Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Job lost- Does the fire still burn ?

Ok! I am not writing this because I'm selling hope on this blog. A person with a family, unpaid credit card bills and mounting health costs is losing sleep over and as a result his/her ability to think is getting deeply affected. When a million jobs are lost due to the hubris of a few individuals, do we need to lose sleep ? Yes we do because our lives are at stake, but is that the only solution or are there better alternatives ? There are and the present world order is an example of that. It is necessary to keep the fire burning-Don't mistake that in being over-ambitious, but striving to achieve more.

Our previous generation faced the crisis of world wars, atomic explosions and today we face terror and economic crisis like the foot of a beast stamping us. So who is to blame at ? The beast or us ?
Here arises the strong case of faring forward rather than faring well. This concept of karma is important and this was the message given by lord Krishna to Arjuna before the epic battle of Mahabharat began.

It is important today to survive the storm rather than go upwards and destabilize further and that makes me go against the acquisition by pfizer of wyeth. There is no proportion between stealing the livelihood of 10% employees who worked for you for $68bn. But then as newton put it , Every action has a equal and opposite reaction as your good and bad karma comes back to you in this very life.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Do we want it ?

I had read The Alchemist a long time back, but today, I decided to recollect some famous quotes of The Alchemist and discuss their implications.
"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."
So do you want something and if yes, do you really want it ? Going by the quote, the almighty will come and help you in your endeavor if you really want something and the greatest living example is Barack Obama. So what does this word want today ? Freedom from terror, corruption, recession...

But is it possible in this life time ? Maybe yes, but looking at it practically the answer is inclined towards no. That makes me go towards the second quote of Alchemist
he learned the most important part of the language that all the world spoke-the language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in their heart. It was love. Something older than humanity, more ancient than the desert
So to live this life, we need love, abundance of it, something that has existed even before man came to earth. Can love help us conquer our desire ? Yes.

Onto the final quote of the book
It was the language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose, and as part of a search for something believed in and desired.
Passion and enthusiasm sum up the 3 basic ingredients of achieving things previously unthinkable and when these 3 mix, sky is just within a hands reach.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Steve Jobs and Karma

Sometimes we criticize destiny for not giving us what we deserve, of not showing us the right things. Like the fingers of a hand are not of the same length so are our lives, One may be born with a platinum spoon and one with a silver spoon and many with no spoon at all. The inheritance, luck is all dependent on our past karma and like me if you believe in an after life, the family we are born in this life is a direct consequence of our karma in previous life. But should we crib about it ?
I'd say no. One example that instantly strikes a chord when it comes to reversing the karma is Steve Jobs. Despite all the wealth, fame and fortune, lets look back at what he was.

These are quotes from Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005. You can read the whole speech here. It is a must read for any individual who wants motivation.

...My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
...and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out.
...About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable...Later that evening I had a biopsy, ... the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

The life of Steve Jobs is something that we can learn from. There are circumstances when we can't control the events of our life and that makes it necessary to keep persistence and a positive outlook. At these junctures it is also necessary not to loose faith in God, because when we are alone the only source of hope is god. Despite all efforts the faith that he will come and help makes the journey through the storm much easier.

Welcome

Welcome to Domain of Hope!
The purpose of this blog is to have a general talk on religion and faith and the role they play in our lives. Every time, I'll try to come up with a post based on my experience to bring the biggest power in ourselves, more powerful than the power of atom - the power of hope.

If you have any suggestions/experience, you can comment on this blog and share your thoughts. I hope to put in the best of content. Looking forward to make this a successful endeavor.