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Wednesday, December 14, 2016

What Went Wrong with the 8/11/16 Indian Money (Mis)management?

My apologies for not publishing any blogs after the last one some time in April 2016.

In fact this year has been much eventful for me. It was the last year of my long professional career extending over 36 years in a government owned company. It is the Steel Authority of India Limited or SAIL in short. Unlike most engineers and professionals in the current IT-era, my generation belonged to an era when engineers and jobs were both scarce and when most of us never ever seriously thought of switching jobs once we got in to one with luck being at our side! Only those rare very ambitious ones from our lot tried switching jobs for betterment! I too remained honestly loyal to the one and only employer which made me sustain so long! It is not true to say that I never tried to leave my original governmental employer. Yes, I too got in to current of exodus to mushrooming private sector of the Nineteen nineties, but could not muster enough courage to do the final act, somehow.

That way fortunately or otherwise, I remained with SAIL all these years from 1980 to 2016. The company gave me opportunity to work in the Bhilai Steel Plant for over three decades and another half decade at Ranchi. I said goodbye to the professional career and shifted to my ancestral home place back in south India in the now urbanized village, Elanthoor, in Kerala.

Shifting residences is not anything easy in India. It is really painful and frustrating in many ways in this country due to several reasons. They are all unavoidable pains in a budding democracy and I do not wish to elaborate on those in this blog. Not continuing with my writing too was due to some of those frustrating obstacles!

Being a citizen who was compelled to shift residences quite frequently in the recent past, I have not been able to exercise my voting power as an adult Indian citizen. I had written about those in some of my blogs earlier. As is the case with several others, I haven't been a blind follower of any political party so far. I liked the government for doing good to the people and disliked when they did foolish things regardless of the political party lines of the government.

The proxy government under the leadership of Dr.Manmohan Singh as the PM in the past ten years has been more of a dislike than any like due to its inability to explain its honesty rightly to the people. Many, including me obviously found lack of leadership, honesty and guts to act when governmental actions were commonly thought as essential.

And that caused many unbiased citizens like me to look for hopeful alternatives and that was how we started developing a liking with the leadership of Narendra Modi, even while we disliked many ideologies and personalities that his political organization embraced.

And that tilt in the minds of the people catapulted Modi to the top seat of power and we expected miracles. But nothing spectacular never happened except the spectacular international diplomatic shows and endeavors of the new PM. The people, including me, did not lose patience. We knew that the new government needed time and experience!

And then the most spectacular thing suddenly happened on the 8th November 2016 night. Very dramatically the PM's face and voice beamed in the millions of household TV screens across the length and breadth of India! The PM announced his ambitious and very daring anti-corruption drive- the now infamous 'demonetization' drive! The government of India was withdrawing two largely circulated Indian paper currencies-the 500 and 1000 rupee notes with immediate effect with certain allowances! New 2000 rupee notes and 500 rupee notes would replace these cancelled currencies in a phased manner!

The PM requested the public to be patient for 50 days and to bear the inconveniences that might arise for this big and bold step by the government to wipe out black money and counterfeit currencies from the Indian monitory system. He explained the restrictions for people to withdraw cash from banks and ATMs.

We danced initially with joy as we found this daring PM taking daring action to clean Indian economy from its black labels! He had earlier taken similar steps to clean the Indian streets from its foul smell that had become the obvious characteristic of the Indian winds!

We were ready to face the odds for making this happen though some of us had our doubts deep in our minds. For example we could not digest the logic of withdrawing 1000 rupee notes with 2000 rupee notes! Yet we never doubted the wisdom of the all knowing government.

As the days went, the Indian people were realizing the great administrative blunder or mismanagement. They were witnessing the lack of planning within the governmental systems and the top bank, the Reserve Bank of India. People like me could not digest the fact that the Indian bureaucracy is so ineffective or unprofessional to handle this kind of a situation which is not in any way a herculean task. How could they do such a big administrative action without proper planning?

Withdrawing most of the existing currencies without making any alternative arrangements to replace those genuine cash? They have not undertaken any action for low denomination currencies. They have not thought about the ATMs and making changes in those machines and the systems with the banking system to dispense cash!

Neither they did any thing to make at least the educated and well to do Indian middle class to switch to cashless electronic money transactions! There have been no governmental rules or systems that ensured this.

As of now, the troubles of the people and increasing day by day. The most vulnerable are the citizens at the lower rungs of the society who earned their daily earnings in low denomination paper cash. The retail traders, the rural farmers, the daily wage earners and the like are all miserably affected. The Indian economy has come to a pathetic halt not because of shortage of money, but because of the inability of the government to make financial transactions possible wherever it was needed!

The inability of the government to dispense the worries of the people at this stage is more worrisome now. The news of infighting within the government and the political system have been enhancing the worries.

There are reports of large scale loss of employment especially in the unorganized sector. Whether this will percolate to the organized sector is something the regular employees of India keep watching tense-fully!

The long ques in the banks and ATMs in India are nothing encouraging to the Indian economy. The catch of unaccounted cash in the new currencies and the threat of the government with more penalties and punishments to the economic violators are not any thing that make India an investment friendly nation!

The nature of uncertainty in the economy is not anything good for a nation like India. No doubt, we need to tackle black money, counterfeits and black economy. But it should not be at the cost of the whole economy.

Will any one burn the house for fear of rats?

What could have gone wrong in this big administrative decision of the Indian government?

I think it is one typical case of administrative goof up just as the deeds done by Muhammad-bin-Tugluq a few centuries ago due to lack of well informed planning and unprofessional execution. Historians do admit the good intentions of Tugluq, though!

In the current case, if we observe unbiased, it is not difficult to find an unnecessary and undue encroachment by the political leadership in an administrative act that involved high degree of economic and financial complexities! Though the government is supreme, it was a job of the Reserve Bank of India and the latter should have done it professionally after due homework!

Instead what the people of India witnessed? The PM announcing the decision most dramatically at an awkward time in the news channels! And the man responsible for the final thing- the governor of the RBI was not to be seen anywhere!

And for that matter, the RBI boss was a new one. No doubt, he was an experienced professional in some other field. But he took the reigns of RBI only very recently. That kind of a time period is just not sufficient for any external management expert to master the complexities involved in the management of the central bank! With that short stint, he was obviously not in a position to advise the political and bureaucratic bosses with correct predictions and consequences even if he was consulted prior to the move!

And that explains why the RBI is very poorly equipped to deal with the consequences of the 8/11 demonetization act! Nothing surprising then to learn about the inadequate stock of currency printing paper and security inks with the security presses managed by the RBI! Nothing surprising to find the ATMs of the country cannot be equipped for the new paper currencies! Nor the failure of the Indian banking system to act foolproof post demonetization is also nothing surprising!

No one with the right kind of information would have ever thought that India is fully equipped for digital revolution to such an extent that it can do away with physical currency in just one stroke! No doubt, India has achieved much in the recent years with regard to its internet networks and electronic communication systems. But that is just not enough and can never replace the common money that the poor and ignorant majority Indians are still depended upon in the present times. At the most these are wishful thoughts for India for the future!

Unless the people are reasonably well to do with above poverty incomes and reasonable standards of living it is difficult for any government to honesty remove corruption. Under privileged masses are prone to be the poaching ground for the clever characterless people to perpetuate corruption! With India with its present levels of below poverty line and marginally above poverty line masses, the upper money making lots would keep their exploitation practices in so many ways so long as the latter change their evil mindsets! 

There are better alternatives and that is the need of the hour! Income tax raids and stricter punishments for black money would only make corruption money to change hands! It will not eliminate corruption! Why not the government encourage people to pay taxes honestly and honor the high tax payers with awards instead of threatening all tax payers with draconian punishments? Draconian rules are the first cause for corruption, in my humble opinion! And corruption is the first cause for black money and black economy! 

We may have moved to the 21st century, but with all those who enjoy power and position, the mindset remain as of the dark ages! The moment power and position are achieved, human mind tilts towards evil and begins to explore ways to exploit others instead of being of any good service to others!

Observe any man who occupies a powerful seat of power high or low. Observe his or her ways and manners. Is it not the same like the hawks or the wild hyena? Or may be of the cunning jackal? And watch the same person after he or she is removed from the seat of power!

And character cannot be brought in a man or woman just by education. Without character, there is potential of evil always. Developing good character in the people is a lengthy process that might take generations for full transformation. Yet, it is nothing non-achievable for the individuals! 

In this context some readers might remember what I had written some time ago: An attempt to eradicate corruption in any characterless society would bring about more corruption!

So what the PM should have done in the current situation?

He should have created a situation that encouraged good citizens to do their economic activities without fear or apprehension while making it difficult for those who are more prone to corrupt acts.

He should have eased the income tax rules and laws and created better systems and procedures for people to pay their taxes honestly and removed the draconian or complex return filing procedures for individuals while making it perhaps necessary only for business firms. Let the government tax all incomes at the source, but why should the individual tax payers troubled for keeping all mundane accounts and file the returns error free in a system that no Indian can do without external help? Obviously, such systems and procedures are made by tax officials when they are in power with the intention of enhancing their power! And such enhanced powers obviously become another source of corruption!

Why does the government keep agricultural incomes tax free for all? Is it not a good opportunity to convert big black money? How on earth someone check the validity of any one declaring a million or more income from a few acres of land that he or she holds without doing any farming at all? This one provision compels many to buy cheap farm lands and keep them barren or under utilized for tax evasion. Even if the farms yield big incomes, why such incomes should be tax tree? Small farm incomes should be tax free. But big farms should not be.

Why does the government extent many tax free privileges and perks to the government officials while no such things are available to employees in the private domains? Why does the government keep enhancing the salaries, perks and pensions of the government employees without any due consideration to spend any tax collections for any logical social benefits to the general public including the tax payers?

I remember a youth working in a private company in India asking me this question recently: Why should we pay income tax when the government does nothing for us from the tax so collected? Will the government pay us subsistence allowance if I lose my job tomorrow and become income less from the tax they collected from me earlier? And remember, the several developed nations in the present day world do have such schemes while the government of India does not subscribe to any such ideas.

The youngsters of India do not wish to hear from the government that they take taxes only for fighting wars or defending the borders. Of course, that is important. But concurrently, the government has to prove to the nation that every rupee they collect as taxes are spent wisely for the people! When the people realize, it more and more will honestly come forward to pay taxes!

But no doubt, it is not good for modern governments to function as goonda sarkars of the bygone past when the word sarkar was actually associated with danda or stick!

  
Let us hope the PM and his team recognize the anxiety of the silent and honest masses of India now and take some bold but honest corrective steps that make India and Indians shine! 

Friday, April 22, 2016

Our Erroneous Concepts About God!

Many of us, the modern day human beings, may boast of living in a world of science and may be proud of the achievements that we have made and have been making in the past few decades, as compared to our forefathers who lived in the past centuries.

When we examine this with regard to the physical environment and material comforts, we may be compelled to be proud of human achievement in many fields, even while we faintly acknowledge the problems of our modern day achievements.

While some of our fellows are making advances in sciences and technology, some of us are also compelled to believe in our own abilities while some others among us may become a bit scared of the future consequences.

Our scientific advancements have not yet resolved our faith or faithlessness in the unseen superior intelligence that subtly over control our world. That has caused our knowledge and intelligence to work in isolated compartments when it comes to our religious thoughts and scientific thoughts.

More importantly, our religious beliefs and spiritual ideas have not undergone much change as compared to our forefathers who lived in the past bygone centuries. In other words, we are as ignorant or confused when it comes to our understanding of the universe and the naturally visible management of our planet and its nature. While we may collect data and try to interpret those data with our mathematical tools, we really do not have any idea about the universe administration that are beyond our material comprehension.

That way, modern mankind is no different from its ancient ancestry! Our modern scientific minds too remain as those of our ancient forefathers when it comes to our concepts about God!

We have made remarkable success in removing so many erroneous concepts that carried forward from the past with regard to our material knowledge with the help of our scientific skills and tools. But unfortunately we have not made an equivalent progress of mind with regard to our knowledge and understanding of God.

So what are our erroneous concepts about God?

Let me pause here to quote from my book of life guidance which talks about it (the erroneous God concepts of human beings) from a superior third party view point:

Religious tradition is the imperfectly preserved record of the experiences of the God-knowing men of past ages, but such records are untrustworthy as guides for religious living or as the source of true information about the Universal Father (God). Such ancient beliefs have been invariably altered by the fact that primitive man was a myth maker.

One of the greatest sources of confusion on Urantia (Earth) concerning the nature of God grows out of the failure of your sacred books clearly to distinguish between the (divine) personalities of the Paradise Trinity and between Paradise Deity and the local universe creators and administrators. During the past dispensations of partial understanding, your priests and prophets failed clearly to differentiate between Planetary Princes, System Sovereigns, Constellation Fathers, Creator Sons, Super-universe Rulers, the Supreme Being, and the Universal Father. Many of the messages of subordinate personalities, such as Life Carriers and various orders of angels, have been, in your records, presented as coming from God himself. Urantian (Earthly) religious thought still confuses the associate personalities of Deity with the Universal Father himself, so that all are included under one appellation (identity).

The people of Urantia (earth) continue to suffer from the influence of primitive concepts of God. The gods who go on a rampage in the storm; who shake the earth in their wrath and strike down men in their anger; who inflict their judgments of displeasure in times of famine and flood -- these are the gods of primitive religion; they are not the Gods who live and rule the universes. Such concepts are a relic of the times when men supposed that the universe was under the guidance and domination of the whims of such imaginary gods. But mortal man is beginning to realize that he lives in a realm of comparative law and order as far as concerns the administrative policies and conduct of the Supreme Creators and the Supreme Controllers.

The barbarous idea of appeasing an angry God, of propitiating (appeasing) an offended Lord, of winning the favor of Deity through sacrifices and penance and even by the shedding of blood, represents a religion wholly puerile (childish) and primitive, a philosophy unworthy of an enlightened age of science and truth. Such beliefs are utterly repulsive to the celestial beings and the divine rulers who serve and reign in the universes. It is an affront to God to believe, hold, or teach that innocent blood must be shed in order to win his favor or to divert the fictitious divine wrath.

The Hebrews believed that "without the shedding of blood there could be no remission of sin." They had not found deliverance from the old and pagan idea that the Gods could not be appeased except by the sight of blood, though Moses did make a distinct advance when he forbade human sacrifices and substituted therefor, in the primitive minds of his childlike Bedouin followers, the ceremonial sacrifice of animals.

The bestowal of a Paradise Son (Jesus) on your world was inherent in the situation of closing a planetary age; it was inescapable, and it was not made necessary for the purpose of winning the favor of God. This bestowal also happened to be the final personal act of a Creator Son in the long adventure of earning the experiential sovereignty of his universe. What a travesty upon the infinite character of God this teaching that his fatherly heart in all its austere coldness and hardness was so untouched by the misfortunes and sorrows of his creatures that his tender mercies were not forthcoming until he saw his blameless Son bleeding and dying upon the cross of Calvary!

But the inhabitants of Urantia (earth) are to find deliverance from these ancient errors and pagan superstitions respecting the nature of the Universal Father (God). The revelation of the truth about God is appearing, and the human race is destined to know the Universal Father in all that beauty of character and loveliness of attributes so magnificently portrayed by the Creator Son who sojourned on Urantia (earth) as the Son of Man and the Son of God.

Did it touch your mind to think?

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Fixed Doze Combination Drug Ban in India: An Unbiased Analysis!

In a surprise move on 10th March 2016, the central government of India has banned about 340 combinations of orally consumed drugs produced and marketed by modern pharma companies in India for various ailments such as cough, allergy, fever, cold, influenza, etc.(See this report) Many of these so called medicines have been in common use for quite some years and have been used by the common folks as over the counter (OTC) medicines without the prescriptions by any medical doctor.

The following gives the list of the banned  combinations- also called fixed dose combination (FDC) drugs - of medicines that are banned in accordance with the powers entrusted with the government under section 26A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and the Drug Rules 1945 of India:


 

  

  

I do not know whether this sudden action by the government is the right initiative or not. Apparently, the government has done this to safeguard the citizens health. However, all industry experts and users may not agree to this (Click here to read this!). I too am of the same opinion, as governmental decisions are mostly seen as governed by political or extraneous considerations and not always based on well informed and logical reasoning! (Also read my earlier blog on 'the politics and strategy of bans') 

The India government combination drug ban is estimated to cause the immediate disappearance of nearly 1500 popular prescription and over the counter English medicines from the medical shops across the length and breadth of India which is likely to cause much difficulties for the patients, doctors, the drug retail shops and the pharmaceutical companies. The problem would have been less severe, had the government did this in a planned manner with due diligence and planning!

The following are some of the very common medicine brands that would disappear:

Anti diabetic drugs : Tribet, Gemer P, Gluconorm, Triexer
Cough syrups : Phensedyl, Tossex, Ascoril, Zedex
Fever, cold, pain relief: Sumo, Vicks Action 500, Zerodol-P

There are hundreds of others for other kinds of ailments!

The governmental action is reportedly on the basis of several research studies which suggest possible adverse effects of using such fixed combinations of more than one drug. However, all these research findings are debatable issues as there are other research studies which support alternative views.

The authorities have been telling the pharma companies and the medical community not to use brand names while prescribing medicines. Instead, they were advised to use the original chemical name (generic name). However, the pharma companies and the medical doctors have just ignored these guidelines for quite some time now.

The pharma companies have been making huge profits from the medicine business. Most of the medicine suppliers are not original manufacturers of the basic drug. Many of them import or buy the basic medicine in bulk fro original drug producers from India or abroad and convert it into very small tablets, capsules, injectables, oral syrups, etc containing few milligrams of the original drug and market those in various kinds of fancy trade names. 

The sales representatives of these pharma companies, called the medical representatives, go to the hospitals and the medical doctors and educate them about the method of use of these so that the doctors remember these names to prescribe them to the needy patients. There exists an unholy nexus in this business and this is known to all concerned. The companies have devised their own systems wherein the prescribing doctors and the medical shops get good rewards when a particular brand of medicine gives good sales returns to the company.

There is nothing very surprising in this. Doctors, hospital managements, the medical shop owners and the pharma company people are all humans and they are all in this business for making some profits or earning a livelihood. 

But the markets operate in a competitive environment. The government allows so many drug makers to start business and operate. They simply cannot exist, unless they make profits. So they too are compelled to device marketing techniques of various kinds.

Fixed combination drugs are essentially a kind of marketing technique. In this method, more than one drug combination allow the pharma company to market a drug combination product under a brand name different from that of its competitors and reap better benefits and returns commensurate with its own marketing efforts.

While the law of the land has been in existence for decades, the drug enforcement authorities have never been publicly against any pharma company as the pharma companies know pretty well how to take care of the statutory authorities. It has been a win-win situation for every one. Even the poor patients too benefited to some extent as many had the choice of buying the medicines over the counter without actually being in the crowded lines in front of the hospitals and the medical doctors for small ailments like cough and cold that is so common. Their experience with the drugs have been better than many of the doctors!

And India is no USA, Canada or the European Union. In the latter, the prime responsibility of the citizens' health vests with the government and the government and the medical systems reportedly work pretty well unlike in India.

So India has been different so far and we call it as the Indian way of working. Even the foreign companies understood how to work in India. They work differently in India as compared to their own mother nations. So they make and market drug combinations that they do not make and sell in their own countries.

When we consider all these, the sudden ban of the combination drugs looks a bit absurd and perhaps even motivated with agendas other than citizens' health. What will happen when all these common remedies vanish from the medical shops? What will the common man do? Rush to the already overcrowded hospitals for seeking alternatives? Will our doctors be competent to prescribe non-combination alternative medicines to manage an ailment in such a short notice? We should consider the fact that they have been in the practice of remembering mostly trade names of common combination drugs!

Will this cause a sudden shortage of all kinds of life saving drugs and medicines when the pharma companies retaliate with their own methods?

Muhammad-bin-tugluq thought of many good things to give better administration to his people of his time. But all those good ideas became miseries for the people and this ruler has never been admired for his good ideas and deeds!

Is the present government doing such a thing by the many bans that it has initiated in the name of good governance?

Only time will tell!  

Does God Have Sons and Daughters?

Does God have sons? Or for that matter, daughters, lest otherwise it may antagonize some feminists!

Before I try to give an answer to that question on the basis of my own understanding so far, let me apologize with this disclaimer: 

I am no authority on this subject nor I possess any proven credentials to provide any undisputed opinions, except that I am fortunate of being with a little advanced information from a great book of truth revelations which I honestly believe as coming from supernal sources, about which I had repeatedly declared through several of my blog articles published in this site.

But then several of my contemporaries in our world today do not seem to believe honestly in the concept of God. For them, the world and the universe is as a result of some random accident that could well be explainable by the so-called science, if not now, at some time later!

On the other hand, there are billions who believe with their own ideas and concepts about God. Several among them apparently seem to be in a mindset that cause them to think of a primary duty to protect and safeguard the interest of their own god or gods, rather than the other way round! Some seem to think that God is responsible for all misfortunes and it is necessary to keep trying to please God always to offset all the misfortunes and ill fates of life! There are people who keep praying , worshiping and doing all kinds of rituals for receiving many kinds of favors from God.

The confusions about God for those who are believers have been so great that a few among them do not hesitate to indulge in much inhuman savagery and violence in the name of God causing much distress to many others! 

That prompted me to write about God, knowing pretty well the difficulty of writing some finite words about an infinite and eternal existence!

And now, I try to venture to express my understanding a bit further by trying to write about the sons and daughters of God!

For those like me, who are believers in God and in the concept of the divine creation of the universe and life forms, all intelligent life forms that got divinely created are sons and daughters of God, when we talk about it in a very general way.

But in the very beginning, in the remotest eternal times, God was the sole living entity. There was God over his domain of power and nothing else! In those eternal times, God was not yet a creator nor a father. God was a solitary power existence with abundant future potentials! God was neither male or female, nor was any material energy! Yet, in God everything contained for future manifestations!

At some time later in those eternal times, a sequence of creative acts got initiated by God, that culminated in the formation of innumerable creations, both living and non-living, all getting formed in eternity in non-material energy and life forms.

In a sequence, there is a first event. The first ever living, non-material living being that came to existence in the likeness of the original God, can now be designated as the eternal son God to differentiate this entity from the original eternal entity whom we may now designate as the eternal father God.

Then comes the act of the first delegation of power ever in the non-material eternal universe wherein the father God delegates several powers so far vested with him to the new divine entity that emerged from him. The father-son divine duo then began to associate to continue with the acts of the future eternal creations. The second person of this divine duo too was neither male or female, but both of them contained the qualities of both male and female characteristics that emerged later in the creative chains.

At some very  advanced eternal creative sequence of non-material creativity acts of both living and non-living  beings and things, there emerged a beginning time where in the material universe that we understand was initiated to be formed.

Time and space as we understand came to exist from this point onward. The creation of the material universe was as a result of a creative effort of the non-material beings that got in to existence in the non-material space earlier in the creation sequence controlled by God the father and his immediate divine sons. 

Matter and energy that the material universe needed for its formation was drawn from the infinite non-material energy that already existed. The non-material energy remained as unresponsive to all material things and beings for all ordinary purposes, though it was the source of energy and existence.

In a similar manner, material life forms and beings got created in the material universe in a sequential by the action of non-material intelligent beings who worked to create those. 

Life and mind came directly from the non-material realm and these were superimposed on material bodies of material life forms and beings in a manner perfectly controlled by the non material intelligent beings delegated with various kinds of powers for the creation and maintenance of the universe systems so created.

Material beings could understand the mechanisms of their bodies by the life and mind that worked in their body systems, but miserably failed to decipher life and mind, because these two have not been part of the material systems to which their bodies belong. To decipher those, they are required to enhance their delegated mind powers beyond their material existence, a requirement many of them find as difficult while they pursue their day to day chores of finite material living.

We, humans too are created by the divine will of God by the creative acts of the divine sons and therefore can well be considered as sons of daughters of God. But we exist in the farthest ends of the creative sequence chain in a realm that is pretty different in form as compared to those in the beginning of the chain.

For the time being we are finite beings unlike those beings in the beginning of the creative chain who are infinite and are nearer to the father God.

But the first source and center of every thing, the father God and his immediate divine sons who are his immediate creative associates, have some purpose for all these kind of creative acts.

No big intelligence is needed to understand that. The source of supreme intelligence is any way more wise than us and he will not do things without any purpose.

It is also not very difficult to decipher that purpose, provided we do have a desire and eagerness to know.

But that does not mean that we question the wisdom of father God and his immediate divine sons and derive our own foolish conclusions.

But as daughters and sons of the very same father God, we have great responsibilities in this vast universe.

The most important responsibility is to ensure peace and harmony in the father's home, the universe. And it should begin in our own homes, communities, nations and world.

For that we need to learn to respect and love our own sisters and brothers, whether they live in our homes or elsewhere in this world!

Just as we, they too are sons and daughters of the same father God. If we say we are not, then it is another matter altogether!

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Did A Meteorite Really Fall to Kill A Man in Tamil Nadu on Saturday, the 6th Feb 2016?

A falling small meteorite killed an innocent man in the campus of Bharatidasan Engineering College-one of the private engineering colleges in Vellore in Tamil Nadu reportedly on 6th February 2016 (Saturday). I do not know how many people really noticed this news. If this is true, perhaps it is the first time that a meteorite fall causing any human casualty in the world! The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Ms.Jayalalithaa had reportedly confirmed that it was indeed a meteor fall that caused the mishap!

Vellore SP P.K. Senthil Kumari and other police officials inspect the site of a meteorite fall at a college in Natrampalli, Vellore district on Saturday. Photo: Special arrangement
T N Police inspecting the site of the meteor fall

The crater formed after the object, believed to be a meteorite, fell on the campus of Bharathidasan Engineering College, near Natrampalli, in Vellore on Saturday.
apparently does not match the site photos on the top or appeared later!

It was a mysterious explosion at noon in the college campus which killed one driver and injured two gardeners of the college besides causing some other damages. No one initially understood what had happened and even suspected a terror attack as the initial reports indicated.

Whether a meteor fall is actually a natural disaster that could be feared or not is a matter of scientific debate. Meteors are small stone like particles from space that keep falling down to planets like earth. They have great destructive power due to the high velocity at which they fall down. However, earth and its inhabitants are more or less fortunate because our atmosphere causes the falling cosmic stones to burn out fully by friction once it enters our atmosphere. The burning out is usually visible to the naked eye and is commonly known as shooting stars or falling stars!  Due to the 'burn-outs' only a few such cosmic stones have some thing left to really hit the earth's surface and cause any damage. Yet there are rare occasions when some meteor residue can strike and cause explosive like destruction on earth. Such incidences have been reported in history all over the world, as is given in the international comet quarterly.

During my younger days when I used to stay in my village, Elanthoor, in central Kerala in south India, I remember watching the unpolluted clear night sky in search of finding occasional shooting stars. Some elders used to consider witnessing a shooting star as a bad omen. But fortunately in my village home none believed in those superstitions and rather I was encouraged to watch the celestial wonders of the skies. But only on one occasion I happened to witness a shooting star so close that I believed that it really hit the ground somewhere nearby. That was some twenty years ago.

In the village we children used to pick up unusually heavy iron containing black stones with a molten rock appearance which we used to call ulkka which in my native language Malayalam meant a meteor! Obviously in the olden times people were aware of these falling sky  stones! 

A photo released by the police shows a part of the meteor.
The news image from the Indian Express depicting an  investigator
holding a piece of the alleged meteor that had fallen in Vellore!

In the cities of India, shooting stars are not very much an observable phenomena now-a-days because of the high urban pollution and the urban area lighting.

Though the Tamil Nadu government had officially declared the Vellore incident last week as indeed a case of a meteor fall, there are many who might think it as due to some thing else. Even the scientific community too may not provide any conclusive verdict so soon.

Large sized meteor falls can release very large energy equivalent to several mega tonnes of explosives or that of the present day nuclear bombs. Scientist believe in the formation of large impact craters and mass destruction of life on earth thousands of years ago due to meteor falls. Technically such incidents can happen even now. But we are fortunate that it happens very rarely! Besides we have the protective atmosphere that keep us safe from the meteor showers!

At this juncture, let me quote a statement of truth revelation from my book of life guidance-the Urantia Book- about meteorites:

"Millions upon millions of meteorites enter the atmosphere of earth daily, coming in at the rate of almost two hundred miles a second. On some other people inhabited worlds (without such atmospheric protection) the advanced inhabitants must do much to protect themselves from meteor damage by making electrical installations which operate to consume or shunt the meteors. Great danger confronts them when they venture beyond these protected zones. These worlds are also subject to disastrous electrical storms of a nature unknown on earth. During such times of tremendous energy fluctuation the inhabitants must take refuge in their special structures of protective insulation."

In other words, the above statement reveals the fact about the existence of at least some other worlds in the universe which are much more hostile to life than the conditions that we face on earth. In those worlds the inhabitants have to use their intelligence and creativity to device means for self protection!

Don't you think us fortunate in that sense?

Thursday, February 4, 2016

നേരായ മത ധര്‍മ്മം എന്താണ്?

[This article below is in Malayalam language. It talks about some aspects of true religion on the basis of some revealed truths given in the Urantia Book-the blog author's book of life guidance.]

ഏതൊരു മതം ആയാലും അത്  നേരായ സാമൂഹിക സേവനം കൈ വരിക്കുന്നത് മത നിരപേക്ഷ സ്ഥാപനങ്ങളുമായി വളരെ കുറഞ്ഞ അളവില്‍ ബന്ധപ്പെട്ടു നില്‍ക്കുമ്പോഴാണ്. ശരിയായ മത ധര്‍മ്മം നടക്കുന്നത് സാമൂഹിക തിന്മകളെ ഇല്ലായ്മ ചെയ്തു സമൂഹത്തില്‍ നന്മയുടെ ഉദ്ധാരണത്തിനു വേണ്ടി  ആ മതത്തിലുള്ളവര്‍ ആത്മാര്‍ഥമായി പരിശ്രമിക്കുമ്പോളാണ്.

പരോക്ഷമായി സാമൂഹിക നന്മയ്ക്ക് വേണ്ടി പ്രയഗ്നിക്കാനും അങ്ങനെ സാമൂഹിക പരിഷ്ക്കാരങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് ചുക്കാന്‍ പിടിക്കാനും അങ്ങനെ ശരിയായ മതത്തിന് അല്ലെങ്കില്‍ മതങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് സാധിക്കും.

എന്നാല്‍ പഴയ സാമൂഹിക മര്യാദകള്‍ നിലനിര്‍ത്താനും പുതിയവ സൃഷ്ടിക്കാനുമുള്ള നേരിട്ടുള്ള പ്രയഗ്നങ്ങളില്‍ നിന്നും മതങ്ങള്‍ ഒഴിഞ്ഞു നില്‍ക്കുന്നത് തന്നെയാണ് ശരി.

നേരായ മതങ്ങള്‍ ഹിംസയെയോ അക്രമത്തെയോ ഒരിക്കലും പ്രോത്സാഹിപ്പിക്കാന്‍ പാടുള്ളതല്ല. അത് സമൂഹത്തിന്റെ വികാസത്തിന് ഏതെങ്കിലും തരത്തില്‍ പ്രയോജനം ചെയ്യും എന്ന് വരികില്‍ കൂടിയും അക്രമം ഒരിക്കലും ഒരു ശരിയായ മതത്തിന്റെ ധര്‍മ്മല്ല തന്നെ. അതോടപ്പം തന്നെ ശരിയായ മതങ്ങള്‍ സാമൂഹിക ഉന്നമനത്തിനു വേണ്ടിയുള്ള ബുദ്ധിപരമായ നല്ല പ്രയഗ്നങ്ങളെ എതിര്‍ക്കാനും പാടില്ല.

ശരിയായ മതങ്ങള്‍ സമൂഹത്തിലെ സദാചാര മൂല്യങ്ങളെ ഉയര്‍ത്തിപ്പിടിക്കാന്‍ എപ്പോഴും ഊര്‍ജസ്വലമായ സ്വാധീനം ചെലുത്തുക തന്നെ വേണം. അതോടൊപ്പം തന്നെ വ്യക്തികളുടെ ആധ്യാത്മിക ഉന്നമനത്തിനായുള്ള പ്രയഗ്നങ്ങളില്‍ വീഴ്ച വരുത്താനും പാടില്ല.

സാമൂഹിക പരിഷ്കരണത്തിന്റെ ഓരോരോ മാറ്റവും സമൂഹത്തില്‍ അപകടകരമായ സ്ഥിതി വിശേഷങ്ങള്‍ ഉണ്ടാക്കാന്‍ പര്യാപ്തമാണ്. അങ്ങനെയുള്ള അവസരങ്ങളില്‍ ശരിയായ മതങ്ങള്‍ മനുഷ്യരെ ആദര്‍ശ ധീരത്വം ഉള്ളവരായി ജീവിക്കാന്‍ പ്രേരണ ചെലുത്തുന്ന ദൌത്യങ്ങള്‍ ഏറ്റെടുക്കും.

നിരീശ്വര മനുഷ്യസ്നേഹം മാനുഷികമായ കാഴ്ചപ്പാടില്‍ ഒരു നല്ല ഭാവം എന്നിരിക്കില്‍ തന്നെയും അതിനു സ്ഥായിയായ പരസ്പര മാനുഷിക സ്നേഹ ബന്ധങ്ങള്‍ നിലനിര്‍ത്താന്‍ സാധിക്കുകയില്ല. ശരിയായ ഈശ്വര വിശ്വാസികളുടെ നേരായ മത വിശ്വാസത്താല്‍ മാത്രമേ അങ്ങനെയൊരു കാര്യം സാധ്യമാകൂ.

ശരിയായ മതങ്ങള്‍ സമൂഹത്തിലെ നിരീശ്വരപരമായ സാമൂഹിക, സാമ്പത്തിക പുനരുദ്ധാരണ പ്രക്രിയകളില്‍ പ്രത്യക്ഷ പങ്കു വഹിക്കാതിരിക്കുന്നതാണ് നല്ലത്.

അധികാര നിയുക്തമായ സുസ്ഥാപിത മതങ്ങള്‍ സാമൂഹിക, സാമ്പത്തിക പുനരുദ്ധാരണ പ്രക്രിയകളില്‍ മനുഷ്യര്‍ക്ക്‌ നല്ല പ്രചോദനം ഏകാന്‍ ഇന്നത്തെ കാലത്ത് പര്യാപ്തമല്ല. വ്യക്തിപരമായ ഈശ്വര വിശ്വാസവും ആത്മിക ഉള്‍ക്കാഴ്ചയും കൈ വരിച്ച മനുഷ്യരുടെ ശരിയായ മത ബോധത്തിന് മാത്രമേ സാമൂഹിക ഐക്യം കൈവരിക്കാനും അക്രമരഹിത പുരോഗതി സമൂഹത്തില്‍ ഉണ്ടാക്കാനും സാധിക്കുകയുള്ളൂ.

ഇന്ന് നില നില്‍ക്കുന്ന ഭൂമിയിലെ സുസ്ഥാപിത മതങ്ങള്‍ എല്ലാം തന്നെ തെറ്റ്-ശരികളുടെ സമ്മിശ്രങ്ങള്‍ ആണെന്ന് കരുതുന്നതില്‍ തെറ്റില്ല. അതില്‍ കുറെ ദൈവിക പരിജ്ഞാനവും അതിലേറെ മാനുഷിക അബദ്ധ ധാരണകളും വിശാസങ്ങളും ഒക്കെ കെട്ടുപിണഞ്ഞു കിടക്കുന്നു. അതിനാല്‍ തന്നെ ഇന്നുള്ള ഒരു മതങ്ങളും പൂര്‍ണമായും ശരിയുമല്ല, തെറ്റുമല്ല.

അപ്പോള്‍ പിന്നെ നേരായ മതം എന്താണ്? ശരിയായ മത ധര്‍മം എന്താണ്?

മനുഷ്യന്റെ സ്വന്തമായ ചിന്തയോ ബുദ്ധിയോ മാത്രം കൊണ്ട് ശരിയായ മത ബോധം പ്രാപിക്കുക സാധ്യമായെന്നു വരികയില്ല. എന്നാല്‍ ശരിയായ ആത്മിക ജ്ഞാനം പ്രാപിക്കാന്‍ അതിനുവേണ്ടി ആത്മാര്‍ഥമായി ആഗ്രഹിക്കുന്ന മനുഷ്യര്‍ക്ക്‌ സാധിക്കുക തന്നെ ചെയ്യും. അതിനുള്ള കാര്യങ്ങളും മനുഷ്യരെ ശാരീരികവും മാനസികവും ഒക്കെ ആയി രൂപകല്‍പന ചെയ്ത പരമപിതാവായ ദൈവം മനുഷ്യരില്‍ ഉള്‍ക്കൊള്ളിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു എന്നുള്ളതും ഒരു വാസ്തവം മാത്രം. അതിനൊക്കെ ഉപരിയായി പല പല രീതികളില്‍ ദൈവിക പ്രവര്‍ത്തക സംഘങ്ങള്‍ കാലാകാലങ്ങളായി മനുഷ്യരോട് ഇടപെട്ടു കൊണ്ടുമിരിക്കുന്നു.

നിങ്ങള്‍ ശരിയായ ആത്മിക ജ്ഞാനം പ്രാപിച്ചു ശരിയായ മത വിശ്വാസി ആകാന്‍ താത്പര്യപ്പെടുന്ന ഒരു വ്യക്തി ആണോ? സ്വയം ഒരു ആത്മ പരിശോധന നടത്തി നോക്കുക!

Friday, January 29, 2016

വിവാഹമോചനവും ബ്രഹ്മചര്യയും:യേശുകിസ്തുവിന്റെ ഉപദേശങ്ങളില്‍ ചിലത്!

[The text below is in Malayalam language. To display it in this language, the computer should be enabled for Malayalam uni code font. The article highlights the teachings of Jesus Christ about marriage, divorce and celibacy and also highlights the importance of family life, man-woman relationship in the universal plans of God as taught by Jesus and as revealed in the Urantia Book- the book of life guidance of the blog author]

ഏകദേശം രണ്ടായിരം വര്‍ഷങ്ങള്‍ക്കു മുമ്പായിരുന്നു യേശുക്രിസ്തു ഈ ഭൂമിയില്‍ ഒരു സാധാരണ മനുഷ്യനായി ജീവിച്ചിരുന്നത്. അന്നത്തെ മനുഷ്യ ജാതികളില്‍ താരതമ്യേന ഉയര്‍ന്ന മതപരമായ ഉള്‍ക്കാഴ്ച നേടിയിരുന്ന ജൂതന്മാരുടെ നാട്ടില്‍ ഒരു സാധാരണ യഹൂദ കുടുംബത്തിലെ അംഗം ആയിരുന്നു യേശു എന്ന് നാം ഇപ്പോള്‍ വിളിക്കുന്ന യോശ്വ ബെന്‍ യോസേഫ്. 

യേശുവിനെ ദൈവപുത്രന്‍ എന്ന് എന്തു കൊണ്ട് പറയുന്നു എന്ന കാര്യത്തിലേക്ക് ഞാന്‍ ഇപ്പോള്‍ കടക്കുന്നില്ല. അദ്ദേഹം ഒരു ചരിത്രപുരുഷന്‍ ആയിരുന്നോ അല്ലയോ എന്ന വിവാദത്തിലെക്കും തല്‍ക്കാലം കടക്കുന്നില്ല. ക്രിസ്ത്യാനികളുടെ വേദ പുസ്തകവും എന്റെ ഈ ലേഖനത്തിന്റെ അടിസ്ഥാനമായി ഞാന്‍ എടുക്കുന്നില്ല. എന്നാല്‍ ഞാന്‍ ഇപ്പോള്‍ എന്റെ ജീവിത വഴികാട്ടിയായി കരുതുന്ന ഭൂമിപുസ്തകത്തിലെ വെളിപ്പെടുത്തലുകള്‍ ചിലത് ഈ ലേഖനത്തിന്റെ അടിസ്ഥാനം ആകുന്നു എന്ന് ആമുഖമായി പറയാന്‍ എനിക്ക് സന്തോഷമേയുള്ളൂ!

ഇളയ അഞ്ചാറു സഹോദരങ്ങളില്‍ മൂത്ത പുത്രന്‍ ആയിരുന്നു യോശ്വ എന്ന യേശു. ഭൂമിയില്‍ അദ്ദേഹം എല്ലാ മനുഷ്യരെയും പോലെ സാധാരണ മനുഷ്യന്‍ മാത്രം ആയിരുന്നു. എന്നാല്‍ ഈ ഭൂമിയില്‍ ഒരു മനുഷ്യ ജന്മം എടുക്കുന്നതിനു മുമ്പ് അദ്ദേഹം വാസ്തവത്തില്‍ നമ്മുടെ ഭൂമിയുടെയും അത് ഉള്‍പെടുന്ന ഒരു വലിയ പ്രപഞ്ച ക്ഷേത്രത്തിന്റെയും സൃഷ്ടിയ്ക്ക് നേതൃത്വം വഹിച്ച ഒരു ദൈവിക വ്യക്തിത്വം ആയിരുന്നു എന്ന് ഭൂമി പുസ്തകം വെളിപ്പെടുത്തുന്നു. സൃഷ്ടി കര്‍ത്താവ്‌ എന്ന നിലയില്‍ നിന്നും സൃഷ്ടിയുടെ ഭരണ കര്‍ത്താവ്‌ എന്ന ഒരു മാറ്റം അദ്ദേഹത്തിനു അനിവാര്യമായ ഒന്നായിരുന്നു. അത് എല്ലാ പ്രപഞ്ചങ്ങളുടെയും മൂലാധാരമായ ദൈവത്തിന്റെ മാറ്റമില്ലാ നീതിയുടെ ഒരു ഭാഗമായ അനിവാര്യത ആയിരുന്നു എന്നതും ഒരു പരമ സത്യം മാത്രം! ആ ദൈവിക നീതിയില്‍ പ്രപഞ്ച സൃഷ്ടി കര്‍ത്താക്കള്‍ തങ്ങളുടെ പ്രധാന ജീവ സൃഷ്ടികളുടെ ജീവിതം സ്വയം അനുഭവത്തില്‍ വരുത്തേണ്ടത് അവയുടെ ഭരണ കര്‍ത്താക്കള്‍ ആകും മുമ്പേ ചെയ്തിരിക്കണമായിരുന്നു.

യേശു മനുഷ്യനായി അവതരിച്ചത് അതിനാണ്. അദ്ദേഹം നമ്മുടെ ദൈവം തന്നെ ആയിരുന്നെങ്കില്‍ പോലും മനുഷ്യനായി ജീവിച്ചപ്പോള്‍ മനുഷ്യന്‍ മാത്രം ആയിരുന്നു. ദൈവിക അധികാരങ്ങള്‍ ഉപയോഗിക്കാന്‍ അദ്ദേഹത്തിനു സാധിക്കുമായിരുന്നെങ്കില്‍ കൂടിയും അദ്ദേഹം അത് ചെയ്തില്ല. കാരണം അങ്ങനെ ആയാല്‍ അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ മനുഷ്യ ജീവിതത്തിന്റെ പരിപൂര്‍ണതയ്ക്ക്  അതൊരു  വിഖാതം ആയിരുന്നേനെ. എന്നാല്‍ തന്റെ സാധാരണ മനുഷ്യ ജീവിതം കൊണ്ട് കളങ്കമില്ലാത്ത മനുഷ്യ ജീവിതം എങ്ങനെ ജീവിക്കാം എന്ന് അദ്ദേഹം തന്റെ ചുറ്റുമുള്ള മനുഷ്യര്‍ക്ക്‌ മനസ്സിലാക്കി കൊടുത്തു. അരൂപിയായ ദൈവത്തിനെ മനുഷ്യര്‍ക്ക്‌ വെളിപ്പെടുത്തി കൊടുക്കാനും യേശു വളരെ പരിശ്രമിച്ചു. അഹങ്കാരികളായ അല്പപ്രാണികള്‍ ആയ മനുഷ്യരെ നിഷ്കളങ്ക ജീവിത മൂല്യങ്ങള്‍ പ്രായോഗികമായി പഠിപ്പിക്കുക അത്ര എളുപ്പമുള്ള കാര്യം ആയിരുന്നില്ല യേശുവിനു പോലും. നിഷ്കളങ്കതയെ അവഹേളിക്കുന്ന ചില അമാനുഷിക ശക്തികള്‍ ഭൂമിയില്‍ മനുഷ്യരെ തെറ്റിലേക്ക് നയിക്കുന്ന പ്രവര്‍ത്തനങ്ങള്‍ നടത്തുന്ന കാര്യം യേശുവിനു അറിയാത്ത വസ്തുത അല്ലായിരുന്നു എങ്കില്‍ കൂടിയും അദ്ദേഹം തെറ്റിനെ ശക്തിപ്രയോഗം കൊണ്ട് തിരുത്താന്‍ തയാര്‍ ആയിരുന്നില്ല.

യേശു സ്വയം എടുത്ത ഒരു തീരുമാനം ആയിരുന്നു ബ്രഹ്മചര്യ. ഈ പ്രപഞ്ച സൃഷ്ടാവ് തന്റെ മനുഷ്യ ജന്മത്തില്‍ ഒരു ഭര്‍ത്താവും കുടുംബ നാഥനും ആയി ഒരു മനുഷ്യ പിതാവ്‌ എന്ന സ്ഥിതിയില്‍ വന്നാല്‍ അത് ചില പ്രപഞ്ച നിയമങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് അനുസൃതമായിരിക്കില്ല എന്നതുകൊണ്ടായിരുന്നു ആ തീരുമാനം. എന്നാല്‍ മറ്റു മനുഷ്യര്‍ തന്റെ ഈ തീരുമാനത്തെ അനുകരിക്കുന്നതിനെ യേശു ഒരിക്കലും പൂര്‍ണമായും പിന്തുണച്ചിരുന്നില്ല. ആണും പെണ്ണുമായി മനുഷ്യനെ നിര്‍മ്മി ച്ചിരിക്കുന്നതിന്റെ ഉദ്ദേശം അറിയാവുന്ന സൃഷ്ടാവിന്റെ മനസ്സ്‌ അദ്ദേഹത്തിനു കൈവിട്ടു പോയിരുന്നില്ല എന്ന് കരുതണം. ശ്രേഷ്ഠമായ വിവാഹജീവിതത്തിന്റെയും കുടുംബജീവിതത്തിന്റെയും  മഹാത്മ്യത്തെ  തന്റെ ശിഷ്യഗണത്തിനു മനസ്സിലാക്കി കൊടുക്കാന്‍  പലപ്പോഴായി അദ്ദേഹം ശ്രദ്ധിച്ചിരുന്നു.

അതുപോലെ തന്നെ നിസ്സാരമായ കാര്യങ്ങളാല്‍ വിവാഹമോചനം നടത്താന്‍ സമൂഹത്തിലെ കപടഭാക്തിക്കാര്‍ ന്യായങ്ങള്‍ നിരത്തുന്നതും  അദ്ദേഹം ഒരിക്കലും അംഗീകരിച്ചിരുന്നില്ല. ആണും പെണ്ണും തമ്മിലുള്ള വിവാഹ ബന്ധത്തെ ദൈവേഷ്ടമായ പാവനത ആയി കാണണമെന്ന് അദ്ദേഹം തന്റെ അനുയായികളെ പഠിപ്പിച്ചു. വിവാഹം ബഹുമാന്യമായ ഒരു മാനുഷിക വ്യവസ്ഥ ആണെന്നും അതിനെ എല്ലാ മനുഷ്യരും അഭിലഷണീയം എന്ന് കരുതണം എന്നും അദ്ദേഹം ശിഷ്യരെ അനുസ്മരിപ്പിച്ചു.

കുടുംബ ബന്ധത്തില്‍ കൂടി മനുഷ്യര്‍ ഉദാത്തമായ ദൈവിക ഇഷ്ടം നിറവേറ്റി പ്രപഞ്ച സൃഷ്ടിയില്‍ ദൈവിക പ്രയഗ്നങ്ങളുടെ  ഭാഗഭാക്കുകള്‍ ആകുന്നു എന്നും അദ്ദേഹം പഠിപ്പിച്ചു. സ്ത്രീയും പുരുഷനും മാനസികമായും ശാരീരികമായും വ്യത്യസ്തര്‍ ആയി സൃഷ്ടിക്കപ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്നു എങ്കിലും അവര്‍ പരിപൂരകങ്ങള്‍ ആയി വര്‍ത്തിക്കാന്‍ നിയോഗിക്കപ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്നു എന്നും അദ്ദേഹം ഉദ്ബോധിപ്പിച്ചു.

സ്ത്രീ ഒരിക്കലും പുരുഷന് അടിമയല്ല. സ്ത്രീയും പുരുഷനും സൃഷ്ടികര്‍ത്താവിന്റെ മുമ്പില്‍ തുല്യര്‍ ആണ്. എന്നാല്‍ പരിപൂരകങ്ങളായി പരസ്പര ബഹുമാനത്തോടെ കുടുംബത്തെ കെട്ടുറപ്പ്‌ ഉള്ളതാക്കി ലോക സമൂഹം ദൈവിക ഇഷ്ടത്തിനു അനുരൂപമാക്കാന്‍ സ്ത്രീയും പുരുഷനും ഉത്തരവാദിത്വം ഉണ്ട്.

മനുഷ്യജീവിതം വ്യക്തികളുടെ ജീവിതത്തിലെ ഒരു പ്രധാന നാഴികക്കല്ല് എന്ന് പറയാം. അത് അതില്‍ തന്നെയുള്ള ഒരു അവസാനമാകാന്‍ ആയിട്ടല്ല വ്യവസ്ഥ ചെയ്യപ്പെട്ടിട്ടുള്ളത്. അത് ദൈവിക പദ്ധതിയിലെ ഒരു പ്രധാന കണ്ണിയാണ്. അതൊരു പ്രാപഞ്ചിക അത്യാഹിതമല്ല.

മനുഷ്യന് ഭൌതിക ജീവിതവും അനന്തമായ മരണാന്തര ജീവിതവും ചില പ്രപഞ്ച ദൈവിക നിയമങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് അനുസൃതമായി പ്രപഞ്ച സൃഷ്ടാക്കള്‍ ഉദ്ദേശിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു. അതില്‍ സ്ത്രീയും പുരുഷനും ഒരുപോലെ കര്‍ത്തവ്യ നിരതര്‍ ആകാനും പ്രപഞ്ച സൃഷ്ടാക്കള്‍ വ്യവസ്ഥ ചെയ്തിരിക്കുന്നു. 

ഈ ദൈവിക നിയമങ്ങളെ മനപ്പൂര്‍വ്വം നിരാകരിക്കുന്നവര്‍ ആ കാരണം കൊണ്ട് തന്നെ ഒരു പക്ഷെ ഈ പദ്ധതിയില്‍ നിന്ന് പിന്തള്ളപ്പെട്ടു എന്നും വരാം. ദൈവിക നിയമങ്ങള്‍ മനുഷ്യരുടെ ഇഷ്ടാനിഷ്ടങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് അനുസൃതമായി മാറി മറിയുന്നതല്ല  എന്നും അറിയണം. മനുഷ്യനായ യേശു തന്റെ സമകാലീനരെ അങ്ങനെയും ഓര്‍മിപ്പിച്ചിരുന്നു.

ശ്രദ്ധയോടെ ഈ മലയാളം ലേഖനം വായിക്കാന്‍ താത്പര്യം എടുത്ത ചില വായനക്കാര്‍ക്കെങ്കിലും ഇതില്‍ പറഞ്ഞ കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ അല്പമായിട്ടെങ്കിലും പ്രയോജനപ്പെട്ടു എന്നു കരുതട്ടെ.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Some Great Revealed Truths About Partnership of Man and Woman!

Man (male) and woman (female) are, practically regarded, two distinct varieties of the same species living in close and intimate association. Their viewpoints and entire life reactions are essentially different; they are wholly incapable of full and real comprehension of each other. Complete understanding between the sexes is not attainable.

The differences of nature, reaction, viewpoint, and thinking between men and women, far from occasioning concern, should be regarded as highly beneficial to mankind, both individually and collectively. Many orders of universe creatures are created in dual phases of personality manifestation. Among mortals (and a few other immediate higher level existences) this difference is described as male and female; among (a few other still superior existences) it has been denominated positive or aggressive and negative or retiring. Such dual associations greatly multiply versatility and overcome inherent limitations, even as do certain triune associations in some highest levels of universe existence.

Men and women need each other in their future post-mortal careers just as in their existing mortal careers, except their existing biologic reproductive function.

The differences in viewpoint between male and female persist even beyond the first life and throughout the local and super-universe ascensions. 

And even (after the the post-mortal ascension careers of existence in higher non-material existence) the post mortal personalities who were once men and women will still be aiding each other in their onward ascension in the farthest and supreme levels of the universe. 

Even when some of them translate to become the Corps of the Finality, the creature metamorphose so far will not delete the personality trends that humans call male and female and these two basic variations of humankind will always continue to intrigue, stimulate, encourage, and assist each other and they will always be mutually dependent on co-operation in the solution of perplexing universe problems and in the overcoming of manifold cosmic difficulties.

While the sexes never can hope fully to understand each other, they are effectively complementary, and though co-operation is often more or less personally antagonistic, it is capable of maintaining and reproducing society. Marriage is an institution designed to compose sex differences, meanwhile effecting the continuation of civilization and insuring the reproduction of the race.

Marriage is the mother of all human institutions, for it leads directly to home founding and home maintenance, which is the structural basis of society. The family is vitally linked to the mechanism of self-maintenance; it is the sole hope of race perpetuation under the mores of civilization, while at the same time it most effectively provides certain highly satisfactory forms of self-gratification. The family is man’s greatest purely human achievement, combining as it does the evolution of the biologic relations of male and female with the social relations of husband and wife.

Civilization never can obliterate the behavior gulf between the sexes. From age to age the values and customs change, but instinct never. Innate maternal affection will never permit emancipated woman to become man’s serious rival in industry. 

Forever each sex will remain supreme in its own domain, domains determined by biologic differentiation and by mental dissimilarity.

Woman is man’s equal partner in race reproduction, hence just as important in the unfolding of racial evolution; therefore has evolution increasingly worked toward the realization of women’s rights. But women’s rights are by no means men’s rights. Woman cannot thrive on man’s rights any more than man can prosper on woman’s rights.

Sex mating is instinctive, children are the natural result, and the family thus automatically comes into existence. As are the families of the race or nation, so is its society. If the families are good, the society is likewise good. The great cultural stability of the Jewish and of the Chinese peoples lies in the strength of their family groups.

Family life is the progenitor of true morality, the ancestor of the consciousness of loyalty to duty. The enforced associations of family life stabilize personality and stimulate its growth through the compulsion of necessitous adjustment to other and diverse personalities. But even more, a true family — a good family — reveals to the parental pro-creators the attitude of the Creator to his children, while at the same time such true parents portray to their children the first of a long series of ascending disclosures of the love of the Paradise parent of all universe children.

The hunger of the soul cannot be satisfied with physical pleasures; the love of home and children is not augmented by the unwise pursuit of pleasure. Though you exhaust the resources of art, color, sound, rhythm, music, and adornment of person, you cannot hope thereby to elevate the soul or to nourish the spirit. Vanity and fashion cannot minister to home building and child culture; pride and rivalry are powerless to enhance the survival qualities of succeeding generations.

[Selectively quoted from the Urantia Book Paper-84]

Teaching of Jesus on the Rule of Living

(Interpretation- Do to Others as Others Should Do to You')

Here Jesus is giving additional inputs to his disciples regarding his earlier teaching on account of some doubts raised by one of his disciples, Nathaniel.

Now read on:

Nathaniel asked Jesus this question: 
“Master, although you have taught us the positive version of the old rule of life, instructing us that we should do to others as we wish them to do to us, I do not fully discern how we can always abide by such an injunction. Let me illustrate my contention by citing the example of a lustful man who thus wickedly looks upon his intended consort in sin. How can we teach that this evil-intending man should do to others as he would they should do to him?”
When Jesus heard Nathaniel’s question, he immediately stood upon his feet and, pointing his finger at the apostle, said:
“Nathaniel, Nathaniel! What manner of thinking is going on in your heart? Do you not receive my teachings as one who has been born of the spirit? Do you not hear the truth as men of wisdom and spiritual understanding? When I admonished you to do to others as you would have them do to you, I spoke to men of high ideals, not to those who would be tempted to distort my teaching into a license for the encouragement of evil-doing.”
When the Master had spoken, Nathaniel stood up and said: 
“But, Master, you should not think that I approve of such an interpretation of your teaching. I asked the question because I conjectured that many such men might thus misjudge your admonition, and I hoped you would give us further instruction regarding these matters.” 
And then when Nathaniel had sat down, Jesus continued speaking: 
“I well know, Nathaniel, that no such idea of evil is approved in your mind, but I am disappointed in that you all so often fail to put a genuinely spiritual interpretation upon my commonplace teachings, instruction which must be given you in human language and as men must speak. Let me now teach you concerning the differing levels of meaning attached to the interpretation of this rule of living, this admonition to ‘do to others that which you desire others to do to you’:
 1. The level of the flesh. Such a purely selfish and lustful interpretation would be well exemplified by the supposition of your question.
 2. The level of the feelings. This plane is one level higher than that of the flesh and implies that sympathy and pity would enhance one’s interpretation of this rule of living.
' 3. The level of mind. Now come into action the reason of mind and the intelligence of experience. Good judgment dictates that such a rule of living should be interpreted in consonance with the highest idealism embodied in the nobility of profound self-respect.
 4. The level of brotherly love. Still higher is discovered the level of unselfish devotion to the welfare of one’s fellows. On this higher plane of wholehearted social service growing out of the consciousness of the fatherhood of God and the consequent recognition of the brotherhood of man, there is discovered a new and far more beautiful interpretation of this basic rule of life.
 5. The moral level. And then when you attain true philosophic levels of interpretation, when you have real insight into the rightness and wrongness of things, when you perceive the eternal fitness of human relationships, you will begin to view such a problem of interpretation as you would imagine a high-minded, idealistic, wise, and impartial third person would so view and interpret such an injunction as applied to your personal problems of adjustment to your life situations.
 6. The spiritual level. And then last, but greatest of all, we attain the level of spirit insight and spiritual interpretation which impels us to recognize in this rule of life the divine command to treat all men as we conceive God would treat them. That is the universe ideal of human relationships. And this is your attitude toward all such problems when your supreme desire is ever to do the Father’s will. I would, therefore, that you should do to all men that which you know I would do to them in like circumstances.”
Nothing Jesus had said to the apostles up to this time had ever more astonished them. They continued to discuss the Master’s words long after he had retired. While Nathaniel was slow to recover from his supposition that Jesus had misunderstood the spirit of his question, the others were more than thankful that their philosophic fellow apostle had had the courage to ask such a thought-provoking question.

[The above narration giving the teaching of Jesus Christ on the Rule of Living is taken from the Urantia Book Paper 147 Para 4.1 -4.10 with a little editing / adaptation]