The Importance of Yogic Exercises

Human body and mind are, possibly, the greatest wonders in the whole universe, except the partially understood universe itself. With functions and faculties as varied as imagination, intuition, logical reasoning, empathy, and sense of colour, beauty and rhythm, human mind is unique in this universe.

Human body too exhibits peculiarities unparalleled in the animal kingdom. No other animal can make movements as varied as man. For example, he can balance himself on two feet and perform amazing things, almost defying the exigencies of the laws equilibrium. He can swim, dive, climb trees, perform a somersault, stand on the head, and so on. Man’s complex brain controls all such movements, which, in turn, is stimulated by such movements.

In short, when the movements of your body parts, muscles, and joints are wide and varied, your brain works meticulously and in turn, gets stimulated. When the movements are restricted and limited, your brain does not receive the required stimulation and consequently, your mental functions, especially those relating to spiritual experiences, tend to diminish.

Primitive men and women were adept tree-climbers, because, like most other primates, man originally lived in trees. Later, he started to build huts and lived in them but did not forget the skill to climb trees. To collect honey or to pick fruits and nuts he continued to climb trees.

Later, man became a farmer abandoning his life as hunter gatherer. This obviated the need for long journeys on foot and the necessity to climb trees. When the movements of his limbs and muscles became limited and restricted, his brain ceased to get sufficient stimulation he used to get in the past and, consequently, his mental life especially the spiritual leanings and experiences became limited.

Tree climbing and clambering over steep rocks call for coordinated functioning of a number of muscles, which no other activity requires. The feet are turned upward, abdominal muscles are put into action and the thoracic and limb muscles are simultaneously put to use. Settled life in farms took away at least sixty percent of all muscular movements the ancient man used make. In urbanized people, muscular movements are still limited. Ask a town dweller to cross a stream treading on a log laid across it. A simple day- to-day activity for even a child in the countryside, the task is a formidable and often impossible one for an urbanized man.

In India, wise men in the early period of settled life saw the spiritual degradation among people and intelligently connected it to the reduced muscular activity. For those who would opt for higher consciousness and greater spiritual experience, they devised exercises which would simulate the lost movements in the ancient era. They taught their followers the scientific way of regaining the spiritual heights and intuitive wisdom of the ancient man without actually undoing the whole of human civilization.

There are as many as eighty five yogic exercises and their numerous derivatives available. By practising all these, you can cause the movement of every muscle in the body in all possible ways, enhancing the activity of all the systems, especially the endocrine system. The spirituality and consciousness lost to the settled and civilized man are regained while retaining the obvious advantages of modernity.

Asanas, or yoga exercises, are, by no means, an end in themselves. On the other hand, they are only the beginning of the search for realizing the Ultimate Truth. After learning and practising Yama and Niyama which are a set of moral principles, you are initiated into Asanas. As you become adept in Asanas, your mind and body are purified and you become eligible to receive wisdom relating to the Ultimate Truth, which is made possible through Pranayama (yogic breathing), Dhyana (meditation) etc.

Degraded Consciousness of Modern Man

When I was a boy, I used to have severe attacks of a special kind of sinusitis. Acute, throbbing pain at a spot slightly above one or both of the brows on sunrise is the symptom. It persists till the sun reaches the zenith, and thereafter would vanish gradually. Next morning, the same thing repeats itself.

I approached my Uncle, who was a Vydyan ( A practitioner in Ayurveda) He woke me up early in the morning before sunrise, and applied the extract of a kind of leaf with lime on the nail of my right big toe.

I waited for the throbbing pain to appear as usual, but it never came again. I asked my Uncle what the wonderful medicine was and he showed me a climber with pale green leaves. He squeezed the leaves with a little of fresh lime and pressed out the greenish yellow fluid.

How on earth did he know the exact leaf out of the millions of kinds of leaves which would cure my ailment? The ache was on the left brow, but the medicine was applied on the right toenail. There are other simple, surprising cures for many other diseases like kidney stone, tonsillitis, diarrhoea, warts, and even rabies. These are closely guarded secrets handed down from generation to generation.

These cures were certainly not discovered by the trial and error method. The only answer is that, in intuitive powers and in the level of consciousness, the ancient man was far superior to modern man. They lived very close to nature and their worries and cares were fewer. Ancient people applied their conscious minds on fewer matters and their unconscious minds were almost in constant contact with the Universal Consciousness. The Universal Consciousness is the storehouse of all knowledge and wisdom, and ancient people had little difficulty in divining cures for common ailments from nature.

The ancient man lived in nature with few or no gadgets for making life comfortable. He survived by his absolute dependence on nature. The universe is the source and origin of all wisdom, and being a part of it, he inherited such wisdom in abundance. So, the fact that such and such herbs are cures for such and such ailments entered his mind intuitively without the application of the logic of the conscious mind.

As man distanced himself from the lap of divine care and love, he gradually lost contact with the wisdom of the universe. And modern man, urbanized and sophisticated, eating tinned and canned foods, using wheels rather than legs for locomotion, thinking constantly of material pleasures, shutting himself in the cage of inhibitions and egos, is a miserable person.

When did man lose his communion with Nature?

Probably when he settled down and started agriculture. But for millennia thereafter, he maintained his touch with nature, though in diminishing degrees. Modern urbanized man lives by the dictates of his logical conscious mind rather than by the wisdom of nature and the intuition of his unconscious mind.

Sages of ancient India knew of the spiritual degradation faced by man owing to his settled life. So, many of them withdrew into the lap of nature, to pristine forests, and lived exactly as the primitive man lived and attained amazing spiritual heights. Modern man might think that the stories of their supernatural attainments in spheres as varied from spirituality to poetry are exaggerations.

On Meditation

When did you start to have a mind? At your birth? Or when you were six months old? No. You started to have a mind and consciousness right from the moment in which a sperm from your father fused with the ovum from your mother. Since that moment, you started to have an existence, aware of the happenings in the outside world. You heard sounds, shared the ecstasies and anxieties of your mother, and waited expectantly for the return of your father. When somebody threatened your mother, you were afraid.

When you were born, you could recognize the voices of your near and dear ones. Your consciousness was limited of course. The stored up memory made you smile or startle in your sleep. Your consciousness, like your body, was not grown up, but it existed.

When you grew up to adulthood, your unconscious mind, which was once independent and all-powerful, started to be influenced by the thoughts in the conscious mind. Your fears and worries, agonies and ecstasies, hopes and aspirations started troubling it. Your oneness with and absolute dependence on the Universal Consciousness, the Root Cause of All, began to waver. Your wisdom and intelligence, very limited and primitive in comparison with the unlimited vastness of the Universal Consciousness, started to influence the unconscious mind in taking decisions of vital importance, hitherto under the care and guidance of the Universal Consciousness. Your decisions always went wrong plunging you into misery and wretchedness. Your conscious mind troubled and toiled, always in the wrong direction. Happiness is an occasional incidence in the general drama of pain; you would occasionally quote Thomas Hardy.

The unconscious mind will fashion your life strictly in accordance with your own perception of the world. If you think the world a gloomy, dismal place full of wickedness, such a world is in store for you. If you imagine that the people you meet and interact with are invariably villains, you are likely to meet only villains in your life.

Nor is your mind free from thoughts, thoughts of the negative kind, during your sleep. During your sleep, you worry about the future, repent about the past and scheme for the present. Part of these thoughts appears to you as dreams.

If you somehow manage to free your mind of all thoughts, your unconscious mind will once again take charge of your life. You will henceforth meet the correct people, take the correct decisions and your life will be a happy and exciting chain of events.

Meditation, therefore, is the art and technique of emptying your mind of all thoughts. Sit in an erect position, preferably in Padmasan and close your eyes. Try to make your mind free of all thoughts. Breathe naturally and think only of the incoming and outgoing air and count your breaths. Before you reach ten breaths, you will be surprised to find that, in spite of your best precaution, you are thinking about something, most probably about the greatest worry in your life.

Drive out the thought and continue your meditation. Take care that you do not fall asleep during meditation. In a week, if you manage to count a hundred breaths, without any conscious thought entering your mind, you have made good progress.

Level of your consciousness will dramatically improve, and all your dreams will come true. Wherever you go, you will command respect and you will cease to view anybody with envy or grudge.

If you continue practising meditation for an hour everyday, the ultimate purpose and meaning of life will be revealed to you, and you will conquer the division of time as past, present and future.

Dreams, Ancestor Worship and Religions

It is of great interest to analyze the relationship between dreams and ancestor worship, which in turn, evolved into religions.
Man dreams. His sleep pattern is intimately linked with his ability to dream. The events played out in the sleep are far greater in number and variety than the actual happenings in the wakeful state. We forget almost all the dreams we have. But some of the dreams, especially those we have had just before awakening, linger in our memory with astonishing clarity, very often filling our wakeful state that follows with foreboding or anticipation.
Imagine the case of a clan chief who was loved, respected and feared by men and women of the clan. One day he dies. During his life time, he had certain unquestioned prerogatives. For example, he could select the prettiest of the women in his clan as his wives. Or, the heart or liver of the animals hunted down by any member of the clan would have to be submitted to him. These organs of a killed animal were thought to have special powers in increasing a man’s prowess or manliness.
A few days after the death of the chief, one of the younger men, who aspire to be the chief, persuades one of the former wives of the chief to sleep with him. Besides, in the hope of becoming as powerful as the deceased chief, he eats the heart of a boar he manages to kill.
In the following night, the man has a dream. In his dream, the old chief appears before him, angry and shouting, wielding a stone axe. The man wakes up paralyzed with fear. He is certain that, though dead and buried some invisible and perhaps more powerful and knowing self of the chief survives after death. He decides to appease the old chief with suitable atonements. He takes his new wife to the place where the old chief lies buried, and offering flowers and fruits, begs pardon for the inadvertent show of disrespect.
For a while, there is no trouble. But one night, the chief appears again and threatens him. The new chief (he has become chief by now) visits the burial site of the old man again and pays his offerings and obeisance and comes back peaceful and satisfied.
His wife and children and fellow members of the clan accompany him and his awe and devotion spreads in the clan.
Exaggerated tales of the deceased chief’s valour, wrath and blessings begin to circulate not only among his people but also in neighbouring communities with which the clan has social contact.
The new chief also dies, but his devotion to the old chief survives. In a century, the burial site has become a pilgrim centre, and there is small temple there. In another century, the old chief becomes a local deity.
Idols of the chief are made depicting his exploits in love and war. His wife or wives are also deified. Hymns in praise of the god are composed and sung. Tales of favours received through the devotion to the god are numerous. Before going to war or on a mission of love, the blessings of the god are sought.
Philosophers write copiously about the modes and importance of worshipping the god and the metaphysical interpretations of the various rituals and incantations – a religion is thus evolved itself.

The Win-Win Situation

Love thy neighbour, exhorts the Bible. Any ‘good man’ or god-fearing person ought to follow this command, we have been taught. It is good for your soul, which is expected to reach the heaven after death and experience eternal bliss. To love thy neighbour is something in the nature of a concession or grace from your part to your neighbours, especially when they are poor.
But few are aware of the benefits of loving your neighbour in day-today life. If you are a vegetable grower and your neighbour is a cow keeper, you can buy milk from your neighbour and your neighbour in turn, can get fresh vegetables from you. By your constant patronage, if he becomes rich, don’t feel envious: he won’t, at least, bother you with the request for a loan. Besides, you can buy cow dung or compost from his farm with little expenses on transportation.
Your children and your neighbour’s children can go to school by the same car, share the same play ground or swimming pool. Always wish for the welfare of our neighbours: this will pay off in many ways.
So, the biblical exhortation to love your neighbours is pure practical wisdom, which, in modern terms, is the win-win situation in which both the sides stand to gain.
This applies not only to individuals but to communities and countries also. India and Pakistan, two traditionally hostile countries, can double their mutual trade to the immense benefit of both the sides. What China has achieved in a few decades by shedding its belligerent stance vis-à-vis the West, is anybody’s knowledge.
Here is a story, which I hope you will love to read and would ask your children to read. A fable always helps you view things objectively, without bias, simply because the characters are most often animals.

The monkeys and Bees

In a deep forest in the Western Ghats in Kerala, there lived a troop of monkeys. They subsisted on roots, tender bamboo leaves and fruits - and fruits were very scarce in the forest.
There used to be frequent quarrels among the monkeys – mostly on account of fruits. These incessant quarrels became a headache to the Chief of the monkeys. He would have a dispute or two to settle every day and most of these were about fruits. ‘The neighbour stole some plantain fruits, the wife ate up all the bananas meant for the entire family, the husband did not share jack fruits with his wife and children, the children ate pine-apples before they were ripe’ - these were some of the sample petitions the Chief received every day.
In the forest in which the monkeys lived there were very few fruit trees. The Chief knew that the quarrels were due to the scarcity of fruits rather than because of the monkeys' ungodly love for food.
The Chief thought of many ways in which the problem could be solved. No animal in the forest knew anything about agriculture. The swine, the deer, the bison and the elephants expressed their ignorance and helplessness. Besides, some of them laughed at the old monkey for his insatiable appetite for fruits.
Now the Chief thought of the bees. He knew that they were travellers and travel always improved the mind. The Chief decided to seek the advice of the bees.
At first the bees were very sceptical about the intentions of the Chief. But they were very soon convinced of the innocent ambition of the old monkey.
The bees informed the Chief that fruits were mostly found in villages. The farmers grew fruit trees and they would not let anybody steal fruits from their gardens. In forests, fruit bearing trees were very few and the demand for the few fruits was great.
"My monkeys should get a steady supply of fruits of different kinds. How can I ensure this?" asked the Chief.
Growing fruit trees was the only way, said the bees.
But the monkeys knew nothing about agriculture.
The Chief suggested that the monkeys and the bees should jointly undertake the planting the fruit bearing trees.
The Queen of the bees said, "What help can we render in this matter? Agricultural operations involve a great deal of labour. Beds will have to be prepared, and irrigation will be required. We are tiny creatures and we can't share such hard labour."
The Chief said, "We shall manage all the labour. Your duty will be to report to us where the fruit bearing trees grow so that we can collect the seeds and plant them. During your travels you can learn much about agriculture that you may share with us monkeys. You people can build your hives in the plantation. We can't collect honey from flowers; so also you have no need for fruits. You can ward off the jungle thieves. Thus we will share fruit and honey and live peacefully in the large plantation that is in my mind."
Once the bees were convinced that they could be real partners with the monkeys, both in rights and duties, the bees readily agreed. They saw that they could collect honey from flowers without the bother for long trips especially during the rainy days.
The monkeys cleared a large area, burnt the twigs and branches and planted different kinds of fruit bearing trees and plants according to the advice of the bees. When the other animals saw this strange venture, they all laughed. But the monkeys did not so much as notice such derisive laugher.
As soon as the saplings were planted, the jungle thieves began to arrive in groups. The deer and hares came to taste the tender leaves. For elephants the plantain and banana leaves are choicest dishes. They also would flock in not only to see the unheard of project, but if possible, to have a bite of plantains.
But the bees would not allow any body to enter the garden.
“Who are you to stop our way to the estate?" asked Tusker the Rogue bull elephant one day.
The bees replied, "The monkeys and the bees have jointly undertaken this enterprise. The task of protecting the plants is with us. Come in and you will catch it."
The bees advised the monkeys to fence up the plantation, for they were so annoyed by the numerous visitors and thieves. The monkeys did accordingly and a notice board was put up at the entrance:
TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED

The trees grew up very fast. Within a year the plantains and bananas gave out large bunches. The mango trees flowered in the third year and the jack trees and the tamarinds followed. The trees began to give the monkeys fruits and the bees honey.
The bees stopped going out except on jolly trips. The quarrels among the monkeys became things of the past.
The monkeys gave the surplus fruits to goats and cows in exchange of wool, milk or milk products. The swine and the porcupines would come with delicious roots to get fruits and nuts in exchange.
Thus the success in agriculture paved the way for a brisk trade. The monkeys became civilized. The days of poverty over, the monkeys had enough leisure for music and the arts.
But when the old Chief died, things began to change.
The old Chief had a vision and the bees had great respect for him. Occasionally they used to give him bottles of excellent honey - special honey extracted from selected flowers, as a token of their respect and goodwill.
But the young monkeys began to consider the gift from the bees their birth right. The new Chief and the elders in the monkey clan started demanding honey and this strained the relation between the partners.
The monkeys would try to steal honey from the hives. But the reaction of the bees was never as sweet as the honey they produced. The bees would punish the thief then and there. Such isolated incidents ended in widespread enmity between the two parties.
"It was we that planted the trees. The bees enjoy the honey. It is only fair that they should share the honey with us," said the monkeys.
The bees said, "It was we that guarded the estate from thieves. Besides, we arrange the pollination of flowers free of charge. Above all, just think who taught the monkeys to plant trees. In the original unwritten agreement, the monkeys and the bees were partners with equal rights and status.”
One day a group of young monkeys, while trying to steal honey from a hive, was punished severely by the bees. As they fled from scene, their faces had become so swollen that even their parents failed to recognize them at first. The angered monkeys, in retaliation, stoned the hives. Now the bees hummed out in great swarms and attacked the monkeys. The monkeys had to flee from their estate and take refuge in the forest.
After prolonged talks between representatives from both the sides, a settlement was reached. The conditions of the truce were simple - fruits to monkeys and honey to bees.
But peace was short lived. The monkeys thought that they should exterminate the bees to ensure undisputed ownership of the estate.
The bees thought that if all the monkeys were killed they could live in peace for ever in the great garden.
The monkeys collected dried leaves, twigs and husks of coconuts and stored them near each hive. The bees discovered a deadly toxic material from a tree in the forest. The substance that flowed from the bark, if injected into a monkey's body, would kill it instantly.
In a summer evening some of the young monkeys stoned a hive. The bees attacked the monkeys with the poison they had collected and all the monkeys stung fell dead instantly.
The bees attacked each and every monkey systematically with the poison. They were out to exterminate the monkey clan.
The monkeys lighted the hidden hoards of inflammable materials and the hives, without a single exception, burnt out in the raging fire.
The fire spread far and wide and the beautiful garden was reduced to ashes in a short time.
On a tree in the forest, not far away from the garden ruined by the fire of rivalry, assembled a group of bees who had flown out and saved their lives. They were deliberating what could be done now.
Underneath a group of monkeys also were found. Most of them had sustained severe burns and they were groaning in great pain.
An old monkey saw the bees above her hanging from a branch and she said, “This is the end of every war."

Islam and Terrorism

All Muslims are not terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims, goes the popular belief among members of other communities everywhere in the world.
There is an undeniable truth in the belief. There are extremist elements in almost every part of the world who are trying to enforce their agenda and ideology through violent means. But, Islamic terrorists are the only ones who try to spread religious faith and culture through violence.
No part of the globe is free from this menace. It is evident that, ever since the religion was founded, force has been used in Islamizing countries and peoples. It is still continuing.
Surely, those who kill and plunder in the name of Islam are not true Muslims. They are only the lunatic fringe whose atrocious killings and bombings will only tarnish the image of Islam and make the members of other communities believe that Muslims are a barbarous lot.
The most significant and unfortunate part in the unfolding drama of islamization is that majority of Muslims, who, like members of any other religious faith, are peace loving and dutiful citizens, do not denounce the atrocities being perpetrated in the name of their faith with sufficient vehemence. When a Hindu temple in India is bombed, or an international flight is hijacked and its passengers brutally murdered, the reaction from the clerics and mainstream Muslims is not vehement enough. There may be feeble statements or perfunctory denunciations. This is not sufficient.
When hundreds of Muslims were murdered in Gujarat, Muslim organizations all over the world were vociferous in blaming the government of Gujarat. But when terrorists struck in Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, and murdered hundreds of people including many Muslims, the voices of protest from the Muslims were inaudibly feeble. If a man of average intelligence arrives at the conclusion that, all Muslims, including the elite everywhere in the world, connive at this crime against humanity, he cannot be blamed.
Religious education is very important as far as any Muslim is concerned. Boys and girls are put to madrasas at a very early age when children can be easily indoctrinated. Most Muslims do not bother to evaluate the quality of the teacher to educate their children. In many cases, the teachers are a bigoted, intolerant lot with little accomplishments in this-worldly education. Their mind set is mostly that of mediaeval barbarians who despised other faiths and looked down upon women as inferior creatures. Like priests of any other religion, they believe in the visible forms, not in the underlying spirit.
When a Muslim suspects of a plot for some act of terror, what should he or she do? They should immediately inform the law enforcing agency concerned of their suspicions. This will not only save innocent people from violent deaths, but also protect fellow believers of a possible backlash. Preventing a terror act in the name of Islam will uphold the credentials of the faith as a peace loving and progressive religion.

When a bomb explodes in a place of worship or a public place in the name of Islam, the heinous act certainly kills many victims. But the damage caused to Muslims is incalculably high, especially when the reactions from Muslim organizations are muted and feeble. It is, therefore, in the interest of Muslims to
watch out plots for such acts and prevent them.

The Economic Time Bomb

A time bomb is characterised not only by its abruptness and unexpectedness but by its devastating effects. Such a time bomb is ticking away, second after second, to the ultimate explosion, which will leave a world without man in it; a mirthless and horrific world as far as human consciousness is concerned.

Homo sapiens or the thinking men are, most probably, the youngest species on earth. Man is special and unique in many ways. He has the power to modify his habitat tremendously and fashion his life to his choice.

Primitive man’s needs were very few. He ate foods found in nature, and slept in huts fashioned out of materials collected from around him. He went about practically nude unless the air was too cold.

As man became more and more civilized, his needs proportionately grew. The first step in becoming civilized was the invention of agriculture. Simultaneously he started to keep cattle, sheep and fowls. These two activities needed tools. Thus, farming and allied activities threw up a lot of opportunities for employment which did not exist previously.

Until a couple of centuries back, people all over the world mainly lived on farming and related activities. Thanks to the Industrial Revolution, making things for human comfort became easier and goods became cheaper. Things once considered to be luxuries became affordable to common man. As a result, consumption grew. To meet this growing demand, business employed more people. A new class of labour, the industrial labour, came into existence. Because his wages were higher than those of the agricultural labourer, and because he had no opportunity to produce his food and basic needs, he came to depend more and more on the manufactured or marketed goods. This further increased demand, and threw up more employment opportunities. Increased consumption creates more jobs and more jobs means further increase in consumption. Thus, consumption and job opportunities have been increasing as ever expanding spirals.

In advanced economies, as little as two percent of the total workforce finds employment in farming. The rest live by making goods and providing services which are not essential for human existence. For example, you can do without shaving cream or hair dye. You can postpone or cancel the plan to buy a new car.

Suppose, in a globally unprecedented situation, a few million people lose their jobs overnight. These few million, having lost their earning and purchasing powers will stop consuming. A further slump in consumption will reduce demand of a number of goods and services and another round of job losses will ensue.

Panic will send the stock markets plummeting and those who lived comfortably with the income from shares and securities will find themselves pauperised in a fortnight.

The expansion in consumption and consequent creation of jobs achieved in fifty years will vanish in a few months.

No economy in the world can insulate itself from a global financial crisis. We have already two examples before us. When the World Trade centre was attacked, the stock markets all over the world plummeted. Then again, when the financial crisis popped banks in the US, every advanced economy in the world was shaken to its roots.

In olden days, most regions in the world were more or less self sufficient. That is, they could survive without the supply of goods and services from other regions. If a particular country or region was economically ruined, the outside world was practically unaffected. Now-a-days, things have fundamentally changed. A car plant in India depends on Japan for parts and Europe or America for markets. Spice growers in India do not know who the ultimate consumers of their produces are.

To eat, clothe and to have a roof to sleep under are the basic needs of any person. Under forced circumstances, you can and you will avoid all other pleasures and comforts. You will certainly cancel your winter trip to hotter climes. Your car will run fewer kilometres, if it runs at all. There will be billions of people like you, who will try to survive on whatever resources left.

Ghost cities without any business, traffic or activity will be usual sights. Extreme poverty will trigger riots, organized plunder and crimes. The worldwide unrest will trigger wars and bloodshed. In a few years, the world population will dwindle to well below a billion.

What, for example, will trigger the economic time bomb?

Suppose a terrorist organization succeeds in planting and exploding a small atom bomb in the heart of New York City. The death toll may not be something unheard of, only a few hundred thousand. But the shock and panic will ruin every economy in the world, killing the vast majority of people around the globe.

The Methane Time Bomb may explode sooner, warming the world unbelievably fast. The consequences will certainly trigger the Economic time Bomb.

Again, a war between two atomic weapon states, say India and China, will create the same situation. The ramifications of such a conflict will never be confined to the region only.

Economists assume that by the ever expanding spiral of more consumption and more jobs, economic growth and prosperity could be kept on growing.

In some countries, there is a statutory regulation that furniture in offices should be replaced by new pieces even if the old ones could be used for a number of years more. The aim is to promote the furniture industry. During the Great Depression of the thirties, Roosevelt’s exhortation to common people was to spend more. By increasing the money circulation he hoped to increase consumption and thereby bring about economic recovery.

All throughout human history, this has been the story of economic growth: more consumption, more production, and more jobs. Even today, governments around the globe apply this method to stimulate the economy. They pump into the system more funds, causing a spurt in consumption energising the economy.

There is the story of Pakistani agents dumping fake currency notes in the border districts of India hoping to ruin the Indian economy. The outcome astonished not only the Government of India and its Pakistani antagonists. The border areas rained with fake currency notes witnessed a brisk economic growth.

We hear a lot about economic stagnation in developed countries like Japan and the US. What is the actual reason? Consumption has reached a peak, so that further increase in consumption and creation of more jobs become difficult.

The economists of all hues assume that further increase in consumption in any economy is possible and a decent growth rate can be sustained. But this may not be possible under all circumstances. On the other hand, it is possible that a sufficiently important but unexpected event can sent back the global patterns of consumption and consequently, job opportunities, to those prevalent a hundred years back. Such a catastrophe has never happened before, because the present level of globalisation and interlinking of world economies is something new. Besides, consumption at the present rates has never before been achieved.

The table below gives the patterns of consumption in Kerala, the South Indian state, now, and a century back. The rates of consumption are not as high as in the wealthier countries, but definitely higher than those prevailing in most developing countries. However, a hundred years back, patterns of consumption in most parts of the world were similar except in footwear, clothing and housing. Cold climates always called for more sophistication in these areas.

Item	Consumption now	Consumption in 1910
Housing	Units built by skilled labour using industrial products	Units built mostly by the user, using locally available materials
Electricity	Universally used	Use was not known
Footwear	Everybody uses	Only a selected few used
Phones	Almost everybody owns a phone	Use was not known
Clothing	The cost and quantity of clothes used by men and women are on a par with those used by the people in the West. .	Scarcely. Only young women wore upper garments
Transportation	Vehicles powered by petroleum fuels are used for travel and transportation of goods.	People mostly travelled on foot. Vehicles drawn by animals were used in the transportation of goods.
Farming	Most people have abandoned agriculture and those who are still in the profession have shifted to cash crops.	Majority of people were engaged in agriculture

Just imagine the extent of job loses if the economy suddenly slides back to 1910 levels.

The fate of the world depends on how far the level of consumption may go back in a crisis. If it goes back to 1910 levels, billions of people around the globe will be thrown out of employment and the fate of humanity will be doomed. It may take another millennium to regain the present level of industrial production and employment generation.

No government can totally prevent a global catastrophe caused by the sudden shrinkage in demand. However, by ensuring regional food security, much can be done. Food production should be heavily subsidised so that farmers may be dissuaded from straying into more lucrative areas such as rubber and soy cultivation.

Many of the cottage and village industries everywhere in the world used to produce goods with locally available raw materials. Industries using coconut fibres, jute, bamboo plies, etc. gave employment to millions of workers. Surky, a mixture of sugar and lime was used even in building dams. Invention of cement and plastic has ruined these industries. Government policies can revive the old industries ensuring employment to millions of workers in the event of a collapse of the present industrial culture and consequent loss of jobs.

In half a century, we have forgotten, discarded or destroyed the survival methods evolved through millennia and it is impossible to fall back to the old ways overnight. A gradual reinvention of the age old methods may ward off a total ruin.

Mahatma Gandhi advocated for the revival of the rural small-scale industries in India. But the intellectuals of that time like Russell mocked the idea. A global crisis will show how prophetic and wise the ‘half clad fakir’ was.

Whatever be the reason, unless the governments are cautious, the present model of economic growth based on unbridled consumerism, will wreak havoc to human civilization, sooner or late.

Religions are concerned about the welfare of mankind. The dos and don’ts prescribed by all religions are aimed at making human life on earth happy, peaceful and prosperous so that the life after death is a guaranteed in heaven.

No religion, to my knowledge, has prescribed dos and don’ts to its followers so that human race is saved from extinction. Therefore, scientific knowledge and economic wisdom should take the place of old religions so that human race is saved from total ruin.

The Methane Time Bomb

Now-a-days we hear a lot about anthropogenic warming of the globe. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased from 280 ppm to about 387 ppm thanks to the burning of fossil fuels during a period of 250 years. Most of the carbons emissions have taken place in the last fifty years. As a result, the glacier and polar ice deposits have melted and we are already feeling warmer winters and hotter summers. Scientific community, including the IPCC, believe that, if something urgent is not done, the future of mankind will be doomed.
Carbon dioxide emissions are less serious than methane emissions in that methane is nearly eighty times more potent than carbon dioxide when a period of twenty years is reckoned.
Methane has many anthropogenic sources such as cattle, sheep, buffaloes and camels, and rice fields and toilet tanks. But far greater is the danger from methane stored up in the permafrost regions surrounding the Arctic Circle. When the sea and land ice melts owing to increased carbon emissions, the ice cover in the cold regions of the earth on land and at sea will melt away. Hit by direct sunlight, the sealed up reserves of methane will escape to the atmosphere. If three billion tons of methane from the permafrost is released, the consequent warming will be equal to that from the anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions for a year.
The frozen seas will further melt releasing more methane. Besides, when the ice cover shrinks, more sunlight will be absorbed by the ocean and the denuded land. At present sunlight falling on the ice covered land and sea is getting reflected back to the space. A brisk chain reaction is likely to follow.
This is no fiction or figment of imagination. Such things have happened in the past causing global temperature to rise by more that 5C and destroying more than ninety percent of the species in the planet. It took millions of years before a normal state returned.
All religious philosophies are anthropocentric, except the core Hindu philosophy. The Islam and Christian philosophies hold that the universe was created for the benefit of mankind, that is, all the plant and animal species were created for the comfortable existence of humans. In fact, man is only one of the numerous species of life and the only species capable of transforming the environment to its advantage. In modifying the nature, man has imperilled his own existence as well as that of millions of other life forms around him. If he is allowed to go on unbridled, he will cause destruction of not only his kind but also of all other forms of life on earth. The Super Intelligence or the Ultimate cannot and will not allow this to happen. The Ultimate Intelligence must have a scheme which will, by destroying the destroyer of all other species, preserve the life on earth.
The methane time bomb is, perhaps, His answer for the arrogance and avarice of man, the self styled crown of creation.
Far from his original environment, man will find it difficult to adapt himself even to the marginal change in his surroundings like temperature rise, sea level elevation or excess or deficient rainfall. Population density has left little room for movement to more favourable territories.
The percentage of world population living in cities has, over the last century, increased dramatically and the number of people who live by producing things essential for existence have come down correspondingly.
A moderate crisis in the weather pattern will trigger the economic time bomb, which will reduce human population to well below a billion, and leave the other species more or less intact.

Religion and Conflict

Priests have been the most influential people in human history, and unfortunately, the most stupid people also. Not that all priests are congenitally stupid. They interpret problems and situations strictly in accordance with writings in their holy books. Not that there is anything wrong with the Bible Koran or Bhaagavat Geeta. These books were written by sages and visionaries centuries ago. Applying the social codes and moral principles in those great books without change to the modern day scenario will be a great blunder.

Besides, priests very often interpret the holy books in different ways. The difference in the interpretation leads to schisms and conflicts. In most cases, the sects fight each other violently.

More people have been killed by sect conflict than inter-religious strife. The Catholics massacred Protestants in millions and the Shias and Sunnis have been at war with each other in many Muslim countries for centuries.

I’m going to tell you a fable. If you have the glow of childhood still lingering in your mind, you will certainly enjoy the story.

The Rat Civilization

A species of rats evolved to a high degree of intelligence- almost as intelligent as human beings. They systematically eliminated their enemies, the cats, snakes and foxes and lived quite safely and peacefully.

A civilization gradually evolved in the rat country. Villages grew into towns and towns into cities.

There were two major religions among the civilized rats. One group believed that the rising sun deserved worship and it was not proper to worship the setting sun. These rats were known as the Worshippers of the Rising Sun or in short, the Risers.

The other group believed that the setting sun should be worshipped and the worship of the rising sun was improper. These rats were called the Worshippers of the Setting Sun, or shortly, the Setters.

The Setters kept rabbits and slaughtered them for meat. But the Risers regarded the rabbits as sacred animals. The Risers ate frog-meat but the Setters considered frogs unclean animals. They would not even tolerate the mention of frogs.

One day, two rat butchers were leading a fat rabbit to the slaughterhouse. They had to pass a Temple of the Risers and they were very anxious to pass the temple before the morning service in the temple was over. One whipped the rabbit occasionally from behind, and the other pulled it by a piece of coir round its neck.

They were in front of the temple exactly when devotees were coming out after the service.

There had been a fiery speech in the temple by a young priest. He had exhorted the devotees not to tolerate rabbit-slaughter and thundered in conclusion, "No killer of the rabbits deserves to live!"

Little wonder, the faithful fell upon the two friends furiously leaving them dead.

The news of the killings spread very fast like forest fire. The Risers threw dead frogs into the Setter temples. The Setters retaliated by throwing dead rabbits into the temples of Risers.

Latha, a rat girl, and her mother were sitting in their living room anxiously waiting for Ramu, Latha's elder brother. They had heard rumours about a possible riot, but they did not know what actually happening outside.

Latha said, "Mom, why are the Risers and Setters fighting?"

Her mother replied, "At first there was no quarrel between the two sects. In fact, the groups were very friendly. My father was a Riser and my mother a Setter. By and by, religious intolerance became widespread. The Risers began to push out the Setters wherever they were the majority. The Setters did exactly the same thing. At last each village came to be inhabited by one group only. In towns and cities separate regions were earmarked for each group."

"But you haven't told me why they should fight at all," the girl rat said.

"They fight because they are different. Haven't you seen the temples? The Riser temples always face the east while the temples of the Setters face the west. The Risers worship in the mornings on Tuesdays and the Setters worship in the evenings on Saturdays," said the mother.

"But this is no reason for riots," said the girl impatiently.

"There are other differences," continued her mother, "For example, the Setter ladies keep their tails well covered so that only their husbands can enjoy the tender beauty of their tails. But the Riser-ladies decorate their tails with bright flowers and coloured cotton and proudly exhibit them."

"This is no reason for the riots," repeated the rat girl.

"But my dear, have you ever noticed how the priests wear shoes?" said the mother.

"It's quite funny that they wear shoes only on one foot," replied the girl.

"While the Riser priests wear shoes on the left foot, the Setter priests wear them only on the right foot. The other foot in each case is bare," said the mother.

Still the girl did not understand why there were riots at all.

The mother continued, "The Setter males wear turbans but the Riser males wear caps. The Risers choose to cremate the dead and the Setters prefer to bury their dead."

"But Mom, you haven't told me a single reason justifying the riot," said the girl indignantly.

"The priests and leaders ask the people to fight and they fight," said the mother.

"The sun is always the same when it rises or sets. Any fool can see this. The rats are the same whether Riser or Setter - this is also evident. It remains a mystery why rats kill each other and set fire to houses and buildings," the rat girls said with a sigh.

"But, my dear, have you ever thought of the main difference between the two religions? We Risers eat the flesh of frogs; you know it is very tasty and nourishing. For Setters frog is an accursed animal. They believe that God Almighty the Sun cursed the frogs for some reason.

"The Setters eat the flesh of rabbits. For us Risers the rabbit is a sacred animal.

"We Risers not only eat the flesh of frogs but call the Setters ‘frogs’ whenever we are angry with them," the mother said.

Now Ramu came in running. He was out of breath and was drenched with sweat.

"There's a riot - a great riot. All the Risers are fleeing to the east. Let us hurry or they will be upon us!" the boy rat cried.

Taking whatever they could carry without difficulty, the three were on the road within minutes.

Great multitudes of rats were seen fleeing to the east. They joined the great crowd in its slow and painful trek to the east to save their lives.

The rat country consisted of a great plain in the west and a vast hilly region in the east. Beyond the plain, in the west, rose a tall mountain that ran in a semi circle towards the hills and served as natural boundary of the rat country. In the east, beyond the hilly region, was a plateau through which flowed a great river, the Mahanadi, which was the eastern border of the country.

Now as the riot raged, the Risers were driven off to the east where they were the majority. In the meantime the Risers drove away their Setter neighbours to the western plains.

These crowds of fugitives were very often attacked by fanatics belonging to the rival group, and massacred. Diseases spread among the fleeing crowds and they didn't have drinking water, food or medicines. Millions of rats perished in the exodus.

The country was divided into two and everybody thought that the rivalry had come to an end.

Elipuram, the Capital of the undivided country was in the plains, close to the hills. The two nations now began to fight for the control of the city.

The first two wars are known as the First and Second Rat Wars and the common rats prayed to the sun that the Third Rat War might not take place. But the priests and politicians on each side were planning and preparing for the final war.

In the great river that marked the eastern border of the undivided country, the monsoons used to cause great floods. The Risers saw that the floodwaters could be used to destroy the country of the Setters.

Millions of small tunnels were dug from the riverbed under the hills into the valley below. The tunnels were planned and constructed such that during floods, water would flow down into the valley where the Setters lived.

The first two Rat Wars were fought during the summer. Therefore, when the Risers attacked during the monsoon, the Setters were really taken by surprise. The Setters fought bravely and great armies marched into the eastern strip of the valley to repulse the attacking forces.

The rains stopped for a day and the sun rose with a pale face on top of the mountains beyond the great Mahanadi. The Risers prayed for complete victory over the Setters and made special offerings to the sun god. Similarly in the evening, the Setters prayed for victory and lasting peace by helping them defeat and destroy the Risers.

That day the setting sun looked unusually red - the god might have known what was in store for both the countries.

The sunshine for a day was like the calm before the storm. It began to rain heavily after nightfall and the rains continued without break for three days.

The Risers withdrew to the higher and safer positions, for they knew that the planned flood in the valley was at hand.

Through the millions of tiny tunnels floodwaters began to surge into the valley and the country of the Setters was very soon under water. By the second day the valley had been completely submerged, killing the entire Setter population.

Now the Risers celebrated the victory from their safer positions. They were overjoyed that the religious problem had been solved forever.

But their elation was short lived. The swift waters flowing through inside the hills ate up the foundations of the hills. The great river altered course and the hills and highlands slid into the valley below. In the place of the ancient rat country, a great lake was formed.

At some time in future, explorers may discover the remains of a great civilization under the lake. They may never guess that the civilization was ruined by religious fanaticism.

Islamization of the West

You may be shocked by the title. It is as improbable as migrating to the moon or Mars, you may think.
I don’t follow any organized religion and I have no particular favour for any of the numerous religions and sects available. But facts are facts. In less than a century the entire West Europe and North America is going to be Islamized.
Everybody needs a religion. To worship is as innate an urge as to have sex. If you are deprived of sex for a lifetime, you are likely to become a neurotic at best and a pervert at worst. Similarly, anybody without religion cannot be said to be totally sane. Apparently he may be okay, but in the ultimate analysis, like the chronic celibate, he or she may show symptoms of abnormality. For example, a totally irreligious person’s chances of committing suicide are at least double as those of a religious person.
Christian churches in Europe and North America are, for all practical purposes, nonentities. As the salt which has lost its flavour, they no longer serve any useful purpose. Few attend churches. Convents, monasteries and seminaries are big abandoned buildings. There is a clear spiritual vacuum throughout the length and breadth of all the major and minor European countries. Into this spiritual vacuum will step the Islam, with a more forceful spirituality and practice.
Muslims start indoctrinating their children at a very early age. Religious education among Muslims is as important, perhaps more important, than regular education. The ideas and ideals printed in the mind at this early age are hard to be erased.
Conversions into Christianity in the West are practically unheard of. But the minority community claims numerous converts into its fold every year. A tickle at the moment, conversions are most likely to become a torrent in future.
Just examine what happened in Rome in the first few centuries. A handful of Christians came to Rome. In comparison, the Roman citizens were more worldly wise and materially advanced than the Christians. But, in the courage of conviction, the Christian spirit was far superior. Their readiness to die for their faith was more than the Romans’ readiness to kill.
The vague idealism of the Romans was no match to the ideals of Christianity and their faith in the life after death and salvation. In the end, the spirit proved to be stronger than physical prowess and Christianity was proclaimed the official religion of the Roman Empire.
Muslims are similarly placed in the West now. They are, perhaps, less worldly wise, educated or enlightened than their Christian neighbours. Any Christian of today’s West will pooh-pooh the idea of dying to propagate or protect his faith. But, the Muslims, on the other hand, will go to any extreme to see that their religion and faith are propagated.
Marriage is a very old institution. In almost every community and culture, marriage existed and the husband was more powerful than the wife. Humans, like most mammals, were organized as a male-centric community. This arrangement had many obvious advantages. In recent centuries, women attained equal status with men, and they started independently earning incomes. Women are superior to men in many respects and, in the changed situation, the traditional superiority of men in certain spheres (For example, as the undisputed heads of families) vanished. Men and women living under the same roof without formally getting married is becoming widespread and many couples opt to have no children.
Whether in the East or the West, Muslims are still a male dominated community, and birth rate among Muslims is undisputedly higher. With a traditional male-centric dispensation in place, Muslim families tend to be more stable, and broken families and orphaned children are fewer.
In an ocean of sexual permissiveness and unbridled freedoms, a more disciplined community with a stronger faith in and dependence on the Creator will attract converts from the decayed Christianity even without any jihad.
A century is not a long period in the history of mankind. During this period, a gradual transition from Christianity to Islam will most probably take place in the West.
Many unacceptable practices in the Eastern Islamic societies like parents forcing girls to marry men of their parents’ choice, honour killings, polygamy and typical dress codes for men and women are not likely to be adopted by the Islamised people of the West. As the western societies become Islamised, Islam will be culturally europeanised. This is exactly what happened during the Christianisation of Europe in the early centuries. The Europeans adopted Christianity, and Christianity in turn, got europeanised.

Religion and Culture

Religions have always tried to define the correct relationship between God and man. They have also set rules for ideal social behaviour and norms for inter personal dealings. Worship of one supreme God, the creator of the universe, is another common factor among religions. All religions, including Hinduism, in essence are monotheistic. On the other hand, almost every religion, including Catholicism and numerous other Christian denominations are, in practice, polytheistic also. Veneration of saints in Catholicism is nothing different from the worship of numerous gods by Hindus. Even the fiercely monotheistic Muslims, in practice, worship at the burial places of dead saints.

Belief in the life after death is another common character of all religions. Every religion offers heaven for the just and warns of hell for the wicked. No religion justifies crimes like rape murder or theft. Prayer, offerings, philanthropy are common.

Therefore, there is no earthly reason why religions should quarrel with each other. Since there is a lot of common ground, every sane person will expect different religions to cooperate with each other in making the lives of the followers better and emulate each other in areas of superiority. But, even in the modern day scenario, even non-practising Christians and Muslims distrust each other, although most people cunningly hide their mistrust. Islam phobia is widespread in the West. Most Hindus in India believe that every Muslim is a terrorist, and Islamization of India is the fond dream of most Muslims.

Why are the followers of great men like Jesus and Mohammed at each others throat throughout the world?

Founders of religions were great reformers. They set out principles and models for their followers so that the society around was a better place with less injustice and greater peace. Some of the principles laid down were applicable only for the age and the region or country in which the founder lived. For example, the prophet’s exhortation against feminine infanticide was applicable to Arabia but not to Europe of that age. Similarly Jesus’ words against fanatical practices of the priests had application only for Jews.

Yet another set of principles was applicable to the human race of all times and countries. Not surprisingly, these principles taught by all religions are similar in essence.

Founders of religions were intelligent visionaries but they were men inheriting the cultural background that brought them up. Jesus clothed himself, ate, and spoke like any other Jew of the age. Mohammed was every inch an Arab in these superficial matters.

The leaders and priests who were destined to carry the torch of wisdom to the later generations were not as intelligent as the great founders. They did not see or care the wine of wisdom draining out of the cultural casks but stubbornly held out the casks as sacred relics. They insisted that the followers should dress and speak like the founders. Catholic priests in South India are invariably clean-shaven when the lay people sport moustaches. Muslim priests and devout followers everywhere sport beards imitating the Arabs.

Culture evolved in every clime and region according to the climatic peculiarities. The Arabs covered their heads probably because of the dust and heat in their habitat. The people in the East wear loose garments to protect themselves from heat. The Europeans don multi-layered clothes to protect their bodies from extreme cold. Not so intelligent followers of great men always insist that the dress code of the founder should be strictly followed.

In fact, it is these superficial matters that cause all the trouble. Instead of following and practising the great principles which the founders stood for, the priests and faithful clamour for trifles and rivalry arise among religions.

Sex and Spirituality

There is a wide-spread misconception that sex and spirituality are incompatible. Anybody, especially a woman, who has had sexual experience, is considered a shade less pure.

Originally, sex was considered the acme of all human experiences. The holiness of sex and its supreme influence on the psyche impressed them so much so that many early civilizations began to worship sexual organs and the sexual act. Phallysm, or the cult of sex, was a great religion in the centuries before Christ. Sivalinga, the penis in the vagina, is still considered to be the unique symbol of all that is pure, beautiful and powerful.

To prevent quarrels among men for mates during the exodus, Moses banned sex outside marriage. By Christ’s time, premarital and extra marital sex had attained the status of abominable sins. Anybody who indulged in these crimes was awarded death by stoning. When Jesus challenged the mob which was about to stone an unfortunate sinner, they all left. They were about to punish the woman for their own sins. Everybody assembled to stone her down had indulged in the same crime many times. What agitated and outraged them was, in fact, their own guilty conscience.

I’m not justifying or glorifying adultery or prostitution. The hypocrisy of the general public and the guardians of spirituality is what I’m against.

By the third or fourth century after Christ, the obsession for ‘purity’ had attained such a frenzied state that convents were invented to keep ‘saintly’ women from worldly temptation. By the eleventh century priests were banned from marrying. This enforced celibacy has done irreparable damage to society’s free and natural growth. The priests, who were banned from having sex, naturally became perverts. Their suppressed libidos came out in the form of crimes and indecent acts to the great peril to the society.

To think that Mary, mother of Jesus, had been a party to such a shameful and sinful act as sex was unthinkable. So they invented the myth that Mary, after the birth of Jesus, though she lived under the same roof with her husband Joseph, remained a virgin. The worship of Mary is the most important religious activity of the Catholic Church today.

This perverted misrepresentation of human nature and history resulted in the crime of building convents and confining thousands of women to them in total disregard to their physiological and emotional needs. Among the numerous crimes and follies the church has been responsible during the past centuries, this sin and crime will stand out as the premier one.

What happened in India was not different. Buddhist monks were supposed to be celibates and there were convent like institutions for women. Less devout men and women married but thought that they were indulging in an act of shame. The dignity and sacredness of the sexual union was compromised to a large extent. Any action against which the mind revolts, is prone to be injurious to both the mind and body.

The Islam was more tolerant. It permitted even polygamy when the man concerned was emotionally and financially sound enough to have more than one wife. Here also selfish men misinterpreted the compassion of the prophet and made women little more than instruments for their enjoyment.

But, not all sex can be called sacred. Sex with love is undoubtedly holy. It nourishes the body, mind and soul. You are elevated to the highest degree of spiritual perfection.

Sex with consent but without love is sexual gluttony. It is one of the worldly pleasures which may release some tension. It is better than total sexual starvation but provides with little spiritual nourishment.

Sex without consent is a heinous crime and an abominable sin. It tears up not only the victim’s soul but corrupts that of the perpetrator.

Religions, which are supposed to be custodians and controllers of spirituality, have, over centuries, stifled the free expression of the sexual urge and are, therefore, responsible for most of the sexual perversions and crimes.