Week23

WEEK 24.

In his discrimination of his fellow beings on account of color or creed man gives a lie to the power of civilization.
The skin is man’s first line of defense and most important too, to prevent infection from coming in. Its amazing ability to repair itself and to give man an indication of his wellbeing is nothing short of a miracle. Every man has been created in an image which anyone in the right senses looking at, would proclaim,” here is my brother!” Oh no! Man being what he is, had to create apartheid. We can well from our hindsight point to Philosopher Herbert Spencer’s unhappy expression ‘survival of the fittest’ as the lever that Hitler pulled for his program of ‘Final Solution.’
Tailpiece: How thrilled the parents are to watch their baby take its first tentative steps? The baby always comes up to their expectations. Little do they realize that it is only a matter of time before the baby shall leave the nest. In that first step on its own the baby has struck at the parental control.
benny

W23-day7

In my view the appeal of George W.Bush lay largely in his simplistic view that found resonance with the American nation in 2000. He made himself ‘morally righteous’ ready to fight the ‘evil’ Jihadists. Come 2004 he had egregiously proved himself inept. He had let the underwriters of Taliban regime get away from the dragnet and lost control over Iraq. He was intent on running for office again. Perhaps the public memory is short to recall the endorsement purportedly credited to Osama Bin laden that tipped the scale in favor of Bush and much to the disadvantage of his rival Sen. John Kerry. Bush got what he wanted.
The cruel joke of the whole clash of values is in this simple truth: The Jihadists need George Bush to prove their point America is out to destroy Islam. The narrow non-intellectual right-winger Bush has no capacity to understand even a liberal let alone a Moslem. So America in choosing Bush for his values has let ‘a lie’ stick. Is it impossible to imagine? Inversion principle shows it is possible.
* “ If only there were no dying in this case, how the Persians would fight.” Haji Baba of Isahan

benny

week39d2

The fruity smell of a banana is on account of a chemical substance, ester. It is distinct from that of a pineapple. Three carbons and six hydrogen in a molecular structure give its distinctive signature. Ethyl caprylate or amyl acetate is created when molecules are compounded in a correct sequence. With it each substance would have acquired its distinct personality or signature smell as well.
A geometrical recognition of molecules among themselves is implied for ester to be distinct from ethyl caprylate. A ‘virtual’ consciousness. Virtual in the sense it is imaginary and yet allowed. If ethyl caprylate is boiled in water, ester falls apart to produce alcohol and caprylate acid. Ester is insoluble in water. If every test follows predictably we must concede these molecules do carry some sort of awareness. A virtual consciousness.
benny

pen portraits

A cloakroom attendant on seeing Mae West’s (1892-1980) jewels gushed, “Goodness, what beautiful diamonds!” To which Miss West retorted, “Goodness dearie, has nothing to do with it.”
2.
Cleopatra (69-30 B.C)
Mark Antony had done his best to entertain Cleopatra and was peeved by her taunts as to the quality of his table. He was perplexed too. When she remarked that she would in one supper spend ten million sestercii Antony laid a wager that it was impossible.
When she laid out her table Mark Antony checked each item against the bill and he had to laugh at her presumption. But she promised that not only she would keep her promise but that the supper would cost 60m.Sestercii.
For the second course a goblet of vinegar of special quality, strong enough to dissolve pearls was brought in. For the occasion she was wearing two most precious pearls in the world. Before his eyes she took off one and dropped into the vinegar. Making sure it was dissolved she downed her goblet. She would have done the same with her second pearl had not Plancus the referee stopped her from it. He pronounced her to have already won the wager.
Turning to a crest-fallen Antony she murmured, ”No soldier is a match for a woman.”
3.
A mind that can dream and hands that can shape the dream to a reality: a man with such credentials would not be complaining of life passing by.
benny

pen portraits

Soon after the death of a well-known composer, someone who did not keep up with the news asked Sir Gilbert of Gilbert and Sullivan fame, what that particular composer was doing. Gilbert said that he was doing nothing. ”Surely he is composing?” the fellow persisted. “On the contrary,” commented the wit, “he is decomposing.”
2.
Madame duBarry (1741-1793)
Illegitimate daughter of a cook she became the favorite mistress of Louis XV, who declared that she was the only woman who made him forget he was 70-something.
As a young girl she was put in a high-class brothel where she was bewildered by exaggerated affections and mannerisms of her colleagues. She felt out of place and lost, which her mother tried to comfort thus, ”Don’t worry, men tire of always eating capons and delicate fruit; a good cabbage now and then delights them.”
benny

w35day2

In the making of history a tiny defect in the personality of man left uncorrected shall have impact correspondingly: the more power he has the more damage it is likely to cause.
The harshness and poverty of his early years took a toll on Joseph Stalin. His mother sent him to a seminary in order to shelter him from the crudities and repressive dominance of a drunken father.
At the Tiflis school his education was short on foreign languages and Sciences. Stalin as a result was never to achieve that command of German thought essential for a would-be Marxist. More glaring was his lack of training in what constitutes the scientific method. Mathematics was also absent. Undoubtedly these contributed to his obscurantism and a scorn for pure research. His exhortive style of addressing his audience also was picked up during his stint in the seminary.
His shortcomings were to do incalculable damage to Soviet science and the scientists in his later years.
benny

week 35

Illogical route of history is always given some semblance of shape by the logic of those who are determined to succeed. The son of a drunken Georgian cobbler is hardly the kind of man we expect to make history. This unlikely figure with bad teeth and pock marked face came from the people. It was what Lenin required and he had plenty of middle class intellectuals already. Lenin was looking for one, preferably not just a peasant or a worker but someone with a modicum of education. Thus in 1912 V.I Lenin picked out Koba Jugashvili to become one 10 members the Bolshevik Central Committee.
Fortune also smiled on Koba the Georgian, while he just made tentative steps on the stage of world history.
Lenin needed someone to expound the correct Marxist view (or rather his own views) on the question of Nationality problem. He felt a Pole or a Jew would take an extreme point of view while he himself as a Russian might not sound convincing to the rank and file among revolutionaries. Lenin thus chose ‘Koba’ one from the oppressed nationalities of the empire. In 1913 he wrote a treatise ‘Marxism and The National Question’ and it earned him the aura of a theorist. His authorship of an authoritative Bolshevik exposition on a very crucial issue was to decisively affect his future and that of Russia.
Was it chance that pitch forked him to the stage of world history? In any case we may with certainty vouch for his staying power. Till his death in 1953 he was the undisputed leader of the Soviet Union. In his ability to have beat back every opposition with the ruthlessness that we find parallel among those who wielded the destiny of Russia only in Ivan the Terrible, we see the logic of ambition straightening illogical twists inherent in luck. He later came to be known as Joseph Stalin.
Tailpiece: Those who cut corners under the mistaken notion of economy ought to be making both ends meet instead.
benny

week39

If we study the dynamics of a ball both its position and velocity can be determined according to specific equations formulated by Isaac Newton. In classical mechanics each demonstration follows the rules. Not so with quantum mechanics where uncertainty rules. Position and velocity (momentum) of an electron particle cannot be determined at the same time. The more accurate one is the other is likely to be imprecise.
The relationship of Cause and Effect that exists in a Newtonian model is absent in quantum mechanics. Uncertainty is the very nature of our micro cosmos or at a subatomic level or Micro cosmos. This very impreciseness must make itself obvious in our material universe.
“Is there life out there?”
Probability for a moralist is doubt and it is what makes up humans whether they believe in God or not.
benny

w38day7

In the Land of Nod not long ago an actor took the office as president of the country. President Well Began talked tough as if he were back in a studio churning out B-movies. Noddians applauded his delivery style; his skill in making every crisis a joke left every foreign dignitary in stitches. They had fun but no work got done. Those Noddians who loved style than content in their president elected him for another term.
World crises never stopped brewing. After eight years in office he asked his political bosses how he fared so far. “We did all the dirty work to put lid on every crisis.” One said. “I walked extra mile,” said his Secretary of State.”
“Tough luck,”replied Well Began, ”history shall only credit me with your work.”
Tailpiece: However well begun must be finished well.
benny

w38day6

A philistine is one who goes at his day’s work like clockwork and applies the same rule for judging a masterpiece.
benny

w38day5

Rome was not built in a day; nor will a masterpiece be written in a day.
In July 1877 Whistler the painter sued John Ruskin for libel for his derogatory comment about Nocturne in Black and Gold. One year later he had to defend his art in court. When asked why he demanded a great deal of money for a work that took only a matter of hours he said he charged for his lifetime of mastering the art.
benny

w38day4

As individuals, we run our lives according to a tight schedule. We do not raise a family so much as seek quality time when each member finds time to come together.
* A Modern family is a collection of like- minded strangers. We grow up together in order to grow apart.
benny

w38day3

Time management is the key to any civilization. Forget this imperative, and structure of any society can come down in course of time. Ability of individuals to safeguard the accumulated advantages of what was past, is made sharper with the whirring of time’s winged chariot overhead.
Lotos eaters may get to eat a lot of lotos. Will that do much good for posteriety? I doubt it.
benny

w38day2

At atomic level we are timeless; and yet in our transaction with others we have to conduct ourselves as if it were not.
Bores are those who forget the fact.
benny

week38

Our bodies are programmed to run down. A twenty year old man is already old and worn down in comparison with an infant. Similar comparison may be made of one who is sixty, who is ancient in comparison, with one who is twenty something. Life doesn’t mean a simple linear progression from birth having an open end.
Death is built-in, which is what the biological clock tells us. Each chromosome in a cell is packed to keep it from fraying and have ends: these ends are called telemia, and as cells divide and multiply to replace old and worn out cells telemia gets progressively shortened. In normal circumstances these telemia ends are only good for some 100 such divisions or so.
Life and death in terms of our biology teach us truth.
benny

w37day7

Soul makes me stand apart as well as connects me with every other at a fundamental level.
I am power of one, an essence of Oneness. But my soul is Idea personalized.
If we define God as an absolute Idea we need to concede the nature of God is in our very being however imperfectly it is expressed. Like a poorly expressed gene. Having made ourselves God we have given Him various attributes: vengeful, loving and Merciful etc., If the idea fails to fill the level of Idea we ourselves are to blame. We have deceived ourselves.
benny

w37day6

Transfer factor is where a particular protein has the ability to recognize a disease and activate body’s immune system. So it will not catch it a second time. Like tissue match between persons so grafting a part of healthy skin onto replace the damaged skin by burns in another, this immunity can be passed from person to another.
That gene which makes a jellyfish glow can be implanted in another living thing to study its stress level.
benny

w37day5

Even as I write the CAFTA agreement is coming into effect. The US could get the deal under the Central American Free Trade Agreement with all the member states done except for Costa Rica. The Nobel Prize winner for Peace Mr. Oscar Arias was expected to win the recent elections by a landslide victory in that country. He was noted for pro-CAFTA whereas his opponent Ottón Solás lost with a very narrow margin. Given the stance of Solás it would be an uphill fiight for the pro-US ally to get the House to ratify the agreement as it is. There have been vehement protests throughout Central America at the arm-twisting tactics of the US to get the CAFTA ratified by their countries. There is a growing feeling among the people that the US wants to draw up terms and also want partners who would sign on the dotted lines.
Tailpiece:
On their first night Louis XV said reproachfully to his mistress Countess d’Esparbes,
”you have slept with every one of my subjects!”
Bashfully she said,”Oh Sire!”
“You have had the Duc de Choiseul.”
“He is so powerful.”
“The Marechal de Richelieu.”
“He is so witty.” “Monville.” “He has such beautiful legs.”
“Very well, but what about the Duc d’Aumont, who has none of these?”
“Ah sire,” replied she,”he, he is so devoted to your
Majesty!”
benny

w37day4

One gene makes one protein; in order to achieve this it will require other proteins as well. Body as one. By the same token we need to see mankind as one. Trade wars fought to keep an economy of a nation over a single commodity shall never run a striaght course.
Tailpiece: Chiquita is a brandname for bananas owned by a Cincinatti based company United Fruit Company. In the early 1950s the company was threatened by the policy of the then Prime Minister Jacobo Arbanez of Gautemala who wanted to redistribute the land. The company was able to press the US government to bail it out. At a time cold war being fought in right earnest the US Government saw red: thwarting a US company was as good as a communist take over. So the Arbanez regime had to go. The CIA staged a coup and Arbanez was overthrown. The company was saved for the time being. But before long it had a tariff war on its hands. Besides there were too many pulls and pressures from other quarters that the company could not foresee or forestall effectively.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union market opprtunities that opened from Eastern Europe was great. Then came the threat of EU becoming a major player. With such momentous changes old pre-war linkages sent trade patterns topsy-turvy.
Anyway in 2001 the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. (Cf. Week 19 –2nd day)
benny

w37day3

Those who lived in the shadow of Mount St. Helens knew it was only a matter of time it would erupt. There were safety measures in place and United States Geological Survey had kept 20 mile red zone around it. The scientists with their previous knowledge predicted the eruption to act out with magma blowing the top, somewhat like a cork from a champagne bottle is expelled. One geologist David Johnston who had studied a recent volcanic eruption in the Soviet Russia expected the magma to erupt from the side which none in USGS accepted as possible. On May 18, 1980 the north side of St. Helens burst with the fury of a ten- megaton bomb. None expected such a force or damage that was left in its wake. Some 56 people died including David Johnston whose prediction was proved right.
Lessons from experience must have been well learnt that in Feb 25, 2005 the mount erupted again. This time no fatalities were reported.
benny

w37day2

Papa Mouse got very annoyed with his son who didn’t listen to his words of warning. “Check always the chunk of cheese dangling along your path, son,” said Papa Mouse on morning. “What is good for people is good for the mice.” Retorted the little mouse. His father was naturally worried.
”They are building the best mouse trap, ever!” screamed the mother one morning after sailing in. ”Watch out!” added the Papa Mouse. ”Never mind,” replied the son not taking his eyes from the book. “Say what are you reading the book for?”,shouted the father angrily. Explained the son,”I get all the dope here to break out from any trap.” The book he referred was ‘The Life of Houdini’.
Set a thief to catch the thief is a bromide that works. Why? Because of Oneness life forms must be able to anticipate events and take suitable steps in order to survive.
benny

week37

“Except a corn of wheat fall...”
From an example of a grain of wheat falling to the ground and dying can we prove afterlife beyond doubt? A corn of wheat bringing up much fruit from the soil we can accept as a certainty. It is born out of our experience.
Similarly we might speak of truth of nature from our own experience. Though we bear wisdom of our race we can effectively measure only experience in time and place. Thus to rub our nose on the ground along some dogma of religion do not make sense. Better put our experience to worthwhile uses.
benny

week 36day-7

Finite time and space coordinates by which I am bound are one way I keep my position vis-à-vis Oneness undisturbed. This point may be understood from the following example.
In Tibet the regional form of Buddhism has evolved a kind of inheritance that has a parallel in Christianity.
(Where Jesus considered a family system based on doing ‘the will of my Father’ (St.Matt 12:50) we see in tulku,
the reincarnation of Avalokiteswara). Dalai Lama’s inherited authority makes him undisputed leader and spiritual guru for the Tibetans. The current Dalai Lama is thus 14th of this line and his term of life is set in time and space.
Time-space coordinates give the mission of Dalai Lama its own fingerprint. His flight from Tibet in 1959 cannot be referred to other tulkus; nor can the honor the world paid to this ‘ocean of wisdom’ in the form of Nobel prize for peace be said in connection with others.
benny

week 36day-6

One devout Brahmin prayed to Brahma and the god appeared in person. “What will you desire? Anything you ask I shall give it to you.” said the lord of three worlds. The Brahmin who had for years prayed without leaving the spot felt so stiff in his bones and asked the god to hold his shawl till he took a round. While he walked on one approached him and said he was Brahma the lord of three worlds. A little later another one, more resplendent than the other two, introduced himself as Brahma. “May be you are right,” replied Brahmin with a deep bow,” Brahma whom I would like to deal with has my shawl for safekeeping.”
benny

week 36day-5

Epigram is a slice of intuitive recognition of truth often wrapped in a tissue of wit.
benny

week 36day-4

More than nature’s fury what endangers forests and wild life? A logger in the Pacific Northwest well knew nine-tenths of woodland has been earmarked for the mill. When there was a campaign to gut the Endangered Species Act he commented, ”Logging will still leave more green to go around.” What he meant was greenbacks.
With so many thousands of jobs depending on logging any question of conservation has to take account of human angle.
benny

w36day-3

Logs that fall into streams instead on the forest ground are not wasted. Logs rot in water and create pools retard erosion and enrich fisheries. Logs thudding into streams create condition for Coho salmon and steelhead that drop in attracted by cool oxygen-rich water. They also find plenty of aquatic insects that thrive in the clean water.

week 36day-2

A felled log has its uses considering the number of small organisms that live therein. Douglas Fir in a temperate climate holds immense colonies starting with folding-door spider, which builds its nest along the cracks in the bark to its centre where a black heart rot fungi will have a continual feast on the heartwood; meanwhile prowlers like centipedes, earwigs and pseudo-scorpions scavenge among loose bark for a meal or two.
A Douglas fir alive would have held insects in check because of its sap; but when dead invites marauding insect- armies which turn it into a spongy mass. Even at this stage it can soak up moisture and store it away. In the process it renews forest soil.
benny

week 36

Things are not what they seem. An example of this was demonstrated with a telling effect on May 29, 1919 during a solar eclipse. The importance of the occasion was in validation of General Relativity into which we need not now go into. It shall suffice to say we might not have known the position of the actual star but for the solar event. For that matter while we see the moon shining out there the time taken for the light to reach us would have lapsed some 2 minutes. We are witnessing an event and our senses do not give us the full picture.
Blame it on our nature if we cannot grasp precisely what is Truth. In expressing truth from our narrow circumstances we might still would require some sort of a standard in order to understand us and the world about us.
Truth of Nature is such a scale. It describes the human condition of being subject to laws of nature.
benny

w-8day4

Believers from all over the world venerate the Turin shroud because it is impressed apparently with the image of the dying Christ. The miracle nature of the relic was further attested in their minds by the very fact that an accidental fire could not destroy the markings of the passion of Christ. The burn marks are as visible as the silhouette of Jesus through the weave of the shroud.
Accelerated mass spectrometry was used in 1968 to date the shroud. Tests dated it anywhere between 1260 and AD 1390. The shroud was obviously a fake but did that stop believers from worshiping the relic?
For a believing heart facts do not apparently add up. They pale in comparison with the idea behind the relic.
benny

w-8day3

The Greek philosopher Anaxagoras’ dictum ‘Man as the measure of all things’ is a viewpoint of the same order as of Le Corbusier who defined a house as the machine to live in. A viewpoint is catchall for a host of ideas that must hang comfortably from the time and place. Thus Anaxagoras viewed the order of the world with man holding the central role. Humanism naturally took its power from such an idea just as the technological explosion of the 20th century would impress the celebrated French architect to think of house in terms of a machine.
Perhaps given another millennium one might define man as a robot dreaming he could go back into the womb of time. For the rest living in interstellar colonies it might not seem odd at all. Who can tell?
benny

w-8day2

A viewpoint shapes man’s whole outlook. It gives its preference in his direction. (Mind and body should work as one). Francis of Assisi chose poverty than be saddled with riches. He could have done equally well his work of charity and used his riches wisely for the good of humanity. By his choice he showed where his emphasis lay.
In the Asian sub-continent prior to the Partition days no name carried more respect than that of Gandhi who chose to live in utter simplicity. Mohammed Ali Jinnah, his rival was urged by some of his League followers to live even as Mahatma did. Once some one suggested he should travel third class in the railway Quaid-e-Azam snapped,” Do not dictate to me what I should or should not do. It is not your money I am spending and I shall live and act as I choose.” Jinnah who had a very lucrative legal practice and fastidious tastes refused to live in a way that was anathema to him. Both Mahatma Gandhi and Mohammed Jinnah were true. Truth gives man consistency in directing his viewpoint.
benny

week-8

When masks as a part of dramatic prop, were first introduced in the plays it was greeted with derision. In the Archaic age a Greek tragic poet once insisted on an actor to wear one and he was told he was making a monkey out of his audience. The actor who was to play the role of a victim of misfortune was sure, “I can cry at will. This mask would make me look a fool.” The poet argued a mask was needed to express his ideas that he dared not say in public. Those tyrants who ruled many of the city-states or polis in those days forbade criticism so the mask was one way of expressing truth.
Truth is what we all seek but do we really understand what we are searching for? Only way we can make any sense of it is in our daily interaction with others. Our life is that mask.
benny

w-7day7

Before martial arts became a sport the Buddhist monks practiced it for self- preservation. With its popularity the basic steps have become elaborate and more fanciful. Do not get fooled: controlled mayhem is the goal.
One gets to hear of Okinawaan style or a drunken stance. Or take Kung fu for instance. You may opt for monkey stance or plum flower pose. Such fanciful names are added as the martial art is developed.
In martial arts bo (a staff) acts an extension of your body; longer the staff more power is in your hands to inflict injury to your opponent. Similarly dao acts like a cutlass and when you use it you target wrist of your opponent.
Man as an automobile. With martial arts the difference is between a Ford and a Bugatti.
Tailpiece: Competition helps each life form to push back the boundaries ever so little and the gains are for the whole. Every advance must also hold loss in some areas. Technology follows the rear of an advancing column of Science. While scientific knowledge is for all, technology divides people into North and South, superpowers and client nations.
benny

w-7day6

Tools as an extension of a life form. It tells of his development. A chimpanzee demonstrates it by using a twig to ferret out ants from the hollow of a tree; or a sea otter may use a piece of stone to break open shell fishes. To keep itself from being swept away by tides it will knot itself to kelp fronds. Baby otters need care till they can distinguish kelps from eel grass as a mode of anchoring. Unlike kelps eel grass is not firmly rooted to the rocks.
benny

w-7day5

Every violin player is unique though each played on the same violin. Jasha Heifetz, Fritz Kreizler or Menuhin may play the same piece and yet a keen listening ear can tell them apart. For their fingering technique, bow pressure and speed of bow over strings are all unique which adds to the difference in quality of their instrument. It is the quality of their virtuosity that they can impress their individuality with their playing.
On the other hand an untrained player on Stradivarius will only make noise. He cannot make such a fine instrument yield its capabilities to him.
2.
A panpipe player who was well known throughout Attica once went on a journey. At one place he stopped to rest under a tree. Immediately he was surrounded by an admiring crowd.
Visibly shaken he asked, ”How did you know I was stopping here?” One said, ”Aeolus said so.” He explained the keeper of the winds had told him of having helped him to his best breath.
“Thus said he. Did he?”
Another said he came to know of his presence from Pan who claimed he taught him his art. Another spoke of Asclepius who healed his body to do the job perfectly. “Yes,” he informed thus,”he asked me to watch out for you. So I came.”
The panpipe player said wearily,”I guess I owe them all thanks. But it was my practice that made it all possible!”
Art is making power of one count. If Vanessa May can so can you.
Tailpiece: Knowledge when messed up shall be confusion.
benny

w-7day4

Are you squeamish about money grubbing? Do you hate the idea of bending your knees before Mammon? If your position isn’t a cover-up for being lazy, you might want to read this.
Firstly we did not bring anything besides ourselves into this world. Neither shall we take anything along as we leave this world. So money serves no purpose in terms of our intrinsic worth.
Money is only essential to us as far as we need to make a living. None shall dispute the fact. But how much? It is a question that has baffled mature and the wise, and fools alike. Unless we get the priorities in life early on we are likely to get lumped with all those who chase some thing or other merely because it carries a price tag. Only that the price we pay in the final analysis would prove too costly.
Secondly life is more to be desired than money. ‘The best things in life are free’ is an adage true even now. A day wasted is a day cancelled from our life. Our energy must be spent for sucking life to the bone and not accumulating money. Value of money drops as surely as our carefully planned career paths fall by the wayside. These are not in our control. Whereas this moment is ours. How we direct it shall decide value of our life. In short in order for a happy life we need to to rely on ourselves.
Thirdly You have laid the standard by which you measure the world. Those who respect your values will have to use the same standard if they need at a personal level, to get anywhere with you.
Finally ‘how to get more mileage with much less’ is certainly an advantage. In terms of economy and as a principle. Such a principle cuts out flab from your sense of values. You are not awed by flashy trappings of success that world may shake at you. Thereby you prove yourself as a person and not as an object.
Money is a thing same as branded products are things. Those hucksters who twist your arms so to speak to keep buying, see you as an object and not as a person worth knowing. They have nothing worth teaching you. You are a man or woman worth knowing since you know yourself. In withstanding their blandishments you have proved what is your worth and also saved yourselves the bother of clutter.
Tailpiece: Whoever heard of things righting themselves? When trouble convulses, be it in financial or in social sphere, a person is required to run things so mankind may get going. Who is best equipped for the job but one who knows the difference of things from people and jingle from the music of his or her soul?
benny

w-7day3

Malcolm Campbell who established speed records for automobile and speedboat in his day had a low opinion of his son Donald. Whenever he could he taunted the boy and called him names. He never forgot to tell him he was a ‘fool and always you will be.’ His son Donald was thus goaded into competition and prove his father was wrong. He broke the records his father had made in both events. His death in 1967 did not stop his daughter Gina from taking on his challenge to prove herself. Malcolm’s grandson also continue the Campbell streak for excellence. One man’s example for excellence shall like yeast work itself into the whole lump. If so with individuals, so with nations.
benny

sufficient-unto-this-day

sufficient-unto-this-day

w-7day2

The Classical Age of Greece remains as a high- water mark of civilization of mankind. That age was unique in a way every great civilization elsewhere in India, China or Egypt has had its own distinct stamp.
Having said this let me say the Greeks were by no means backward. The city of Athens was like New York of today. Athenians were politically savvy and as sophisticated as any New Yorker of today. It was on these Athenians one of the silliest pranks in history was played at the time of tyrants. Pisistratus who wanted to grab power conspired with some, and as a result a woman was chosen to dress up as Athene. She was tall and impressive: dressed in a suit of armor and riding around in a chariot she made a convincing show that she was indeed the goddess come in person to lead Psistratus to Acropolis. The ploy worked. The tyrant was recieved everywhere with open arms.
If a city could be fooled it stands to reason that a citizen could be fooled. Only that each person has his or her own weak spot. Do I find what is mine and correct it? or make excuses?
benny

week-7

Theodore Roosevelt was very effective as a President. During his term in office Japan was intent on expanding its territorial ambitions and the war between Russia and Japan (1904-’05) saw him as a negotiator. He brokered a deal between Japan and Russia for which he got the Nobel prize for peace(1906). What little known was of his secret understanding with Japan. The president had made it very clear to Japan to keep off the Philippines. In exchange he conceded the Korean peninsula to it. What atrocities Japan committed subsequently in Korea shall ever remain a dark chapter in its history. How much of that can be linked directly to Theodore Roosevelt the man?
Here was a man whose stature is even now high as any who ever occupied the White House. (As an individual he was in every respect worthy of emulation.) Is it not strange if one is called to play on the world stage and whatever card he dealt would damn him?
2.
Oneness is like a bank where credit of each is same as another. Only that some get to spend more and some less. Where comes this inequality?
• We have seen the characteristic of power of one: any one who uses Oneness for the greater good (remember the examples of Gandhi and Washington?). Currency that we are dealing with is altogether different. Small bills of energy ( like the widow’s mite) add up and make a big impact. Power of one, whose utility depends not in physical attributes of success but in the durable attributes that a species cannot do without, has a reserve that power hungry of this world cannot understand. Such a one is above gender, class, creed and color.
Tailpiece: Soul is the sum total of Oneness I express as a human being: power of One further stripped of non-essentials.
Famous Lost Words.
• ‘ Mr. Speaker, I alone, constitute a majority in this House of Yes-men.’

benny

w-6day7

Old Adam was as old as hills and as he sat under the shade of an olive tree there came a young boy who had something to show. The boy wouldn’t at first tell what it was and having made the old man curious he led him to an apple orchard. “ This was full once upon a time.” Said the boy conversationally.
There were only two trees standing side by side. The boy wanted to know the tree he ate from. The old man looked and he pointed the one that had green apples. He said,” I was green when I ate the apple.” The boy pointed out to the tree bearing red apples and asked: “So this isn’t the right one?” “ It could be or I may be wrong. You see the good Lord saw red when I ate one.”
Tailpiece: Our experience in the past has merely led us to a blind alley. We are stuck since we cannot see beyond our noses. We miss the big picture and our long- term interests since we take care to satisfy our immediate cravings.
benny