The Guest House

A beautiful Rumi poem I received from my mother-in-law today.

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

-- Jelaluddin Rumi, translation by Coleman Barks

Is this the end?

Seeing all the upheaval in the stock markets, combined with meaningless rioting in London (I call them meaningless because to the best of my knowledge, no official cause was ever started), the fight against torturous regimes elsewhere – Libya, Syria, Egypt – a thought occurred to me. What if all this is somehow connected to Dec 21, 2012 the day touted to be as the end of humanity?

As the day draws nearer, people out of curiosity or fear or both will start reading more about it but over the years this is what I’ve gathered about the ultimate doomsday.

The Mayans were one the first to declare Dec 21, 2012 as the end of the world. Using their advanced knowledge of astronomy they constructed a highly evolved calendar that ends on 12/21/2012.  The Hopis and the Indians have similar calendars that show the world ends on the exact same date. They have predicted massive natural calamities and great upheaval to precede the end of the world.

There, however, is other literature too that claims the end of the world is not literal but an end in terms of the ideas, beliefs and attitudes that bind us. In short, Dec 21, 2012 is touted as also being end of business as usual and a rise in consciousness, a positive force that will take over the Earth and destroy these cataclysmic man-made scenarios. So that got me thinking, what if this is the beginning of the end? The end of the world as we know it, the end of politics, greed, hunger and power as we know it? What if the Earth rejuvenates itself and with it brings a fresh wave of life? Think of those next generation babies who will never know life as knew it, who will experience pure and unadulterated consciousness.

Really, like heaven on Earth!

P.S.: I dedicate this entry to India who today celebrates her 65^th Independence Day! My homeland, from where today I’ve been away for 9 years has influenced me in more ways than I know. Jai Hind!

The Man in the Arena

During some sparce moments of clarity in an otherwise chaotic few years, Jamie Dimon (CEO of JP Morgan), sent Paulson a note quoting an excerpt of a very famous speech 'Citizen in  a Republic' by President Roosevelt.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

What is interesting is there is no mention of whether the hero succeded or failed. Its almost as if President Roosevelt didn't consider that to be the central notion of his argument. What mattered is the one who tries, no matter how many times he falls he gets up and tries again. That man who struggles, fearless of consequences, is ultimately better off than those thousands of men who never bothered to take a chance.

This brought to mind a passage from the Gita, where Krishna tells Arjun - do your duty and do it to the best of your ability. The consequence doesn't matter, what matters is the here and now. That's the way to salvation.