Random Thoughts in Search of the 'Soul' !!

"The individual who is mistake-free is also probably sitting around doing nothing. And that is a very big mistake" (John Wooden). I am writing this piece to make you think, while you are probably sitting around doing nothing….

Life is a wonderful thing to have - as confusing or simple as you might think. Have always been wondering what "Soul" or "Spirit" means, can it be seen or felt, has it anything to do with natural state of mind, our death etc. Lot of people believe that when we die our 'Soul' goes into some sort of re-birth or an unknown world, where it manifests/purifies before being re-born in another living form - the belief is that the 'Soul' has to experience all aspects of life ! It is known that the Egyptians believed in reincarnation or the transmigration of the 'Soul'. Bible described the 'resurrection' and many Hindu epics elaborate about Karma, Avatars and Re-births. Yet what happens to the 'Soul' upon physical (clinical or biological) death? Where does the 'Soul' go?

Has it anything to do with Spiritualism, Religion, Science, Gods, Ghosts, Afterlife - or an interconnectivity of all these things? Is it the so-called "force" we think an aspect of Mother Nature - all forms of energy - a physical-chemical-electromagnetic-spiritual makeup? Is it purely a human perception? Throughout history, human beings have worshipped different gods, made different attributions to these "good" or "evil" forces, that reacted different ways. Many religions, cults, researchers have poured out tons of 'gyan' and philosophies on Life, the Soul,the Mind, Emotions and Death....

How would an Immaterial 'Soul' interact with our Material Body? Feelings (like anger, stress) are proven to be purely a result of chemistry and biology - with no need for spiritual or supernatural phenomenon. What controls the functions such as the respiration, heart-beating, blood circulation, etc and what powers the brain? Without a 'Soul', the body is proven to be completely inactive and lifeless. Have you ever heard of an out-of-body experience where the person has 'woken' up from death, to discover their body has continued normally, going to work, etc? - No. In that case, if Ghosts are not physical bodies, then, they must be souls too !! Is the 'Soul' a 'backup' of the data in our physical brain that is somehow liberated, transformed to spirit form (whatever that is) and can live on?

Another serious contradiction is about 'Death'. In a clinical death, those the person is declared "dead", his cells are still alive. This allows us to pinpoint which aspects of life are 'Soul'-sensitive, which parts are affected by the presence of a 'Soul'. This implies that many animals do/might not have the so-called 'Soul' - or more accurately - that their souls do not affect their functioning even if they do have them. For example, all single-cell organisms (virus or bacteria), plant life are all clearly unaffected by their 'Souls'. Higher mammals like humans, in fact, appear to be the only type of life with the brain and other organs which appear to be 'Soul'-sensitive. Many thousands of scientific experiments have been carried out yet none have produced quantifiable results.

Evolution is the next problem for the 'Soul' theory. The fact that animals and such evolve through complex statistics and simple biochemical change ... there is no part of evolution from one species to us that requires the addition of a 'Soul' along the way.

The 'Soul' seems to me like a sort of an invisible phenomenon, yet it would require our bodies to exist somehow. It is impossible to resolve these contradictions... if 'Souls' exist; they are not part of us. If they exist, they are not 'Souls' as we think of them. Many of the theories lack any logical explanation and it defies the actual facts we have on the table. Wanting something to be true does not make it factual.

Think about these highly-contradictory 'Soul' Concepts !! With the advancement of science and exploring the inner self, soon we might understand... the 'real' meaning of Life and what our dear 'Soul' is all about!!

- Bharath

CSA - Child Sexual Abuse

Had wanted to post about this yesterday when I read about the articles on Child Sexual Abuse. You must read the story written by my friend in his blog about CSA. It was very touching and clearly brought out the trauma that the child and its family undergoes when a CSA is committed.

From this place, I chanced on the post that inspired him to write the story.

http://educatethechildren.blogspot.com/2005/12/conspiracy-of-silence-child-sexual.html

It is so disheartening to see that our society that talks so much about culture and heritage refuses to put a stop to this. Infact even more alarming is that such cases of CSA and AIDS victims are high in our society. Rapes happen in huge numbers in our society. Why is it so?

My humble opinion in this is that, in a place where culture and heritage matter so much, the readiness to accept that such incidents are also happening is very less. People live in a state of denial. They refuse to accept that any person is capable of doing things that the child is telling. Another aspect is fear. In most cases of CSA, it is relatives or friends or family members who are the perpetrators. So the mothers either shun the statement of the child due to denial or refusal to believe that the person in question is capable of committing it or due to fear of complicating the relationships.

When I was browsing the blogs and google for information CSA and what can be done to minimize this, I chanced upon various sources, that gave information on the symptoms that indicate a case CSA in a victim.

Details on what can be classified as child abuse, indicators and effects of CSA, how to overcome the advances of a CSA perpetrator and more are available in abundance. The organization Tulir is working towards bringing about awareness about CSA and help the victims also. Creating awareness in children as well as parents is one of best modes of reducing the occurences of CSA.

Let us all try and make the world a much better place for our kids to live in by contributing our best efforts possible to spread the word around and create the necessary awareness.

Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaah....

Finally.... finally..... .Finally I am also joining the club of the employees who have been given Laptops...... It feels so nice to work on a Laptop... Less strain for the hands and back.... No need to worry about ergonomically designed workplace as there are no other additional components that I need to access .... Everything is a part of the laptop itself... No more adjusting the keyboard and mouse to be at the same level.... No more adjustment of the monitor to be inline with my eye height and no more struggling to adjust my chair so as to reduce the strain on my back and leg and wrist...........