Fake newses  - Truth is far away

          Fake news is a huge problem. But it is not a new problem.  Humans have conquered the world, thanks to our unique ability to co-operate in large numbers – and all large-scale co-operation is based on  believing in shared fictional stories about imaginary entities such as Gods, nations and corporations.  Even religious people will agree that all religions except one are  fictional stories.  Thus devout Hindu will say that our religion is true, of course, but Christianity and Islam are based on fake news.

In past centuries, people suffered from a severe lack of information, which made it difficult to verify what is true.  Today we suffer from too much information.  So people are too distracted to investigate the truth.  There are so many things competing for our attention, that our attention itself becomes a scarce resource. The struggle to capture peoples attention has resulted in a destructive model for the news industry. Our attention is captured by sensational headlines and is then sold to advertisers and politicians, in this battle for attention, there is little incentive to safeguard the truth.

                                                                                Yuval Noah Harari, Israeli Author – interviewed by Neelam Raaj, Times of India.

  Man-free music festival

Man-free music festival – “What do you think about us creating an awesome festival where only non-men are welcome until ALL men learn how to behave?”  Swedish comedian Emma Knyckare who founded the Statement Festival, tweeted at the time.  Located inside an industrial building in Gothenburg’s harbor, only female bands are performing and neither male security guards nor journalists are allowed to enter.

 “It feels like a certain tension is gone.  We are here to make a statement together,”  Hanna Gustavsson, a 31 year old designer, chimed in.

According to the Swedish National council for Crime Prevention, 4.1% of women reported that they had been the victim of a sexual crime compared to0.6% of men in Sweden.  Knyckare said the Me Too wave exposing sexual assault unveiled “serious problems” in Sweden, one of the most gender equal nations in the world, at not only festivals, but several institutions.  “It seems like men have woken up to how huge the problem with sexual violence is.”

Spiritual person should excel in his job

In one of my postings as an IAS officer, I came across a chief engineer who prayed at least three times daily.  During Navaratri, he was rarely available in the office.  Yet, he was one of the most corrupt officers that I have seen.  He would extract money from contractors and vendors.  Another colleague who sported a tilak on his forehead and recited mantras at the drop of a hat, was ever ready to give you a discourse on God.  Yet, as an officer, he was negligent of his duties and hardly contributed to any job.  A spiritual person should excel in his job.  This has been the teaching of Paramahamsa Yogananda and other saints.

Spiritual talk, reading spiritual books, endless debates and profound speeches have no meaning unless they help you to live a truly spiritual life.   A spiritual person would be one who performs his duties with total integrity and honesty and has right conduct and right attitude.   He should be abe to become aware of his inner Self and control his mind so that he is above greed, anger, lust, pride and jealousy.  It is not easy, It is a journey where you try to improve every day.  Introspection is what fuels this growth.

                                                                                                                                     Alok Ranjan -  Former I A S Officer, India

Freedom fulfils mandate of the soul

“Freedom fulfils  mandate of the soul.  Being integrally free is a sure way to health and well being.  Humanity is a slave to outside forces  and its so-called free will is but an illusion.  Since the inside governs the outside, freedom  needs securing inwardly for any outer change to manifest. ‘Integral implies totality but this is no easy task’. 

Liberty should not be confused with license…. We remain hooked to our inner traumas while clinging helplessly to the outside world.  The ego believes it alone can hold the individual nature together.  Bondage lies in separation: thus the ego is not independent, but only a slave to Nature herself.

According to Sri Aurobindo, the path to liberation is by becoming a conscious soul in nature.  We awake to the oneness pervading everything.  When we live in the spirit, which is superior to every force of Nature.  This is where true freedom lies”.

                                                                                                                     James Anderson – Coordinating editor of NAMAH 

Why are we Indians obsessed with statues? 

Why are we Indians obsessed with statues?  A 309 foot tall statue of Shivaji is being planned in Mumbai,  an over 500 feet tall statue of Sardar Patel is to be built in Gujarat.  Of course we need our tall leaders but they can’t all be stone hearted.  Building statues will not built the nation.  Instead, by making the past so overpowering, soon we will all be reduced to playing that childish game 1…2…3 statue!, in which people become motionless and incapable of action.  Statues may remind us of past greatness.  But do they also show that today

greatness is past?.                                                                                                                    Sagarika Ghose- Indian writer

Alok Ranjan

James Anderson

Knyckare