Merry Christmas ! 25th December is the most important and sacred day of the year for me. I am very much interested in theology and particularly, theosophy and I read widely but I dont consider myself an expert in either of these. My limitations of knowledge are explained by the sheer profundity of the task......mastering theosophy is akin fathoming eternity ! Why are there so many and varied interpretations of the state and nature of reality, from the theosophical conundrums to the mysteries of human mind to the subatomic world of quantum mechanics, to almost everything else ? ( like what was going on in Adolf Hitlers mind on june 22nd, 1941 on the eve of operation Barbarossa or that of Napoleon Bonaparte on june 22nd, 1812 when his feared and hitherto invincible Grand Armee was pouring into the vast spaces of Russia ?).......for this, I, like most things, turn to the Buddha, and use his the Elephant and the blind men analogy.........6 or so blind men touched different parts of the Elephant and then narrated their explanations : they were all right but far, very far from the totality of reality, infact, they narrated erroneous and contradictory versions of reality. People of every hue and cry offer their interpretations of every hue and cry over the circumstances and times of every hue and cry. Infact, if you were to listen to all these interpretations, like I did, you will lose your sanity for eternity ! Hahaha.......so having studied comparative religion to some degree, I chose Buddhism over all other religions on the basis of logic, reason, compassion, morality, disarming simplicity and the Buddhas astonishing ability to explain the nature-of-reality (the likes of Newton, Einstein, Bohr and Feynman, notwithstanding)..... but Christianity is still my no. 1 choice. How come ? its because of my Christian heroes straddling all of knowledge and more (warfare ? business ?)..... the Buddha was the greatest human ever born. The Buddha with his irresistible persona, still claimed himself to be yet another human. But then this was the Buddha ! The Buddha encompassed all of Eternity (Universe ?) within Himself. Need I say more ? Hahaha..... having said that, I stand steadfast with my Christian heroes ! They hv made me what I am and gave me reason to live and whatever little happiness I hv had in my miserable life thusfar. Christian heroes ? Though I know quite well almost every great man but some stand out easily...... 1st and foremost, the obsession of my lifetime : Leonardo DA VINCI, the Italian Renaissance genius. Close on his heels, John Maynard KEYNES, who ushered me into Economics. VOLTAIRE, the defining multifaceted genius of his time with irresistible (infectious ?)energy and enthusiasm. The BUDDHA (I hv already written enough), He who straddles the Cosmos. Albert EINSTEIN, greatest of my scientific/intellectual heroes. Immanuel KANT, probably the greatest thinker who ever lived after the Buddha and the leading thought leader of the modern Western civilization. My dearest Oscar Wilde (without being gay !) who gave me a million reasons to smile with his unsurpassed wit and wisdom and sense of observation. Kenneth ARROW, the youngest Nobel Laureate in Economics (at 51). Arrow, is one of the giants of 20th century Economics (Arrow-Debreu General Equilibrium framework is the pinnacle of theoretical elegance in Economics, among others). I love Arrow for being a most humble, benign and saintly-looking man. I dont know Prof Arrow well enough neither read his biography. I just watch his lectures and hence, my guesstimate, which are usually correct. Eric Von MANSTEIN, the German commander of World War 2 who was hailed by allies and adversaries alike, as the most gifted and brilliant commander of the titanic conflict..........Hitler ? Every iota a great man for having ushered in the greatest cataclysm in human history with his portentous personality and resolute will from which my beloved Europe is yet to recover ! But he also remains the most notorious person ever and an overlord of the pantheon of Evil. A most complicated man from the saddest epoch in European history. Thomas Carlyl quipped : No great man ever lived in vain. The history of the world is nothing but for an anthology of biographies. George Orwell, author of masterpieces like Animal Farm and 1984, lamented the decline of England and Europe as early as 1930. Margaret Thatcher, when she became the prime minister in 1979 repeated her great lament : the great decline of great Britain. Where have the great men vanished ? Bertrand Russell, mathematician and philospher + literature Nobel laureate, lamented : the greatest worry is not the decline of population, rather the greater decline of able people in every field. For the Europe of today, the greatest thing to worry is stagnant (declining ?) population, ever more so the quality of population. But today is Christmas, let us celebrate and celebrate and then worry, the rest of the year...,...,,,.,,
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 11:40:21 +0000
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