ਕਬੀਰ ਰਾਮ ਕਹਨ ਮਹਿ ਭੇਦੁ ਹੈ ਤਾ ਮਹਿ ਏਕੁ ਬਿਚਾਰੁ ॥
Kabīr rām kahan mėh bẖeḏ hai ṯā mėh ek bicẖār.
Kabeer, it does make a difference, how you chant the Lord's Name, 'Raam'. This is something to consider.

ਸੋਈ ਰਾਮੁ ਸਭੈ ਕਹਹਿ ਸੋਈ ਕਉਤਕਹਾਰ ॥੧੯੦॥
Soī rām sabẖai kahėh soī kauṯakhār. ||190||
Everyone uses the same word for the one who made miracles (the son of Dasrath) ||190||

ਕਬੀਰ ਰਾਮੈ ਰਾਮ ਕਹੁ ਕਹਿਬੇ ਮਾਹਿ ਬਿਬੇਕ ॥
Kabīr rāmai rām kaho kahibe māhi bibek.
Kabeer, use the word 'Raam', only to speak of the All-pervading Lord. You must make that distinction.

ਏਕੁ ਅਨੇਕਹਿ ਮਿਲਿ ਗਇਆ ਏਕ ਸਮਾਨਾ ਏਕ ॥੧੯੧॥
Ėk anekėh mil gaiā ek samānā ek. ||191||
One 'Raam' is pervading everywhere, while the other is contained only in himself. ||191||

Also read about the true meaning of Raghunath - where I discuss what I think about when I sing about Raam/Raghunath.

The glimpse of Raam - A story

Ram Das was a devoted young man who wished to see God. Desperately seeking a miracle, he turned to Kabir, confident that Kabir could help him. With tears in his eyes, Ram Das asked Kabir for this blessing and Kabir humbled himself before his request, noting that he would need time to make the necessary preparations.

The next day, Ram Das sold all his worldly possessions and procured an abundance of rice, flour, sugar, butter, and milk. He invited many saints from all over to join in a great feast, intended to usher in the appearance of God. As the invitees prayed fervently, Ram Das remained in deep meditation, eagerly awaiting his chance to experience the divine.

As time wore on, people grew hungry and impatient. Ram Das persevered, hoping that his faith would pay off, but tension built as the expected time for God’s appearance came and passed. Just when things could not feel any more bleak, a buffalo rampaged through the kitchen, destroying everything, including the feast. Everyone started beating the buffalo with a stick and the buffalo got injured badly.

Everyone was also furious with the saint and with Ram Das. They ran after the animal, but were suddenly stopped in their tracks by a stunning sight: Kabir was hugging the buffalo and crying genuine tears of repentance. Kabir had realized that God was within the buffalo.

Becoming indignant is easy, so too is feeling overcome with godliness in a transformative moment, and the group hung their heads in shame. The veil of distinction between viewer and viewed lifted, replaced with a realization that they were all united in a singular consciousness.

In essence, they all fleetingly captured the essence of darshan, uniting their individual consciousness with the Universal Self.

This is a beautiful article published about the response of musicians to the connecticut

"We musicians, like everyone else, are numb with sorrow at this murder, and with rage at the senselessness of the crime. But this sorrow and rage will not inflame us to seek retribution; rather they will inflame our art. Our music will never again be quite the same. This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before."

Here is the article (Original in Wall Street Journal):

For many, this will not be the most jolly of Christmases. Our region has been hit hard in the last few months, first with the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, then with the heartbreak of the shootings in Newtown, Conn.

In the aftermath of both events, artists and institutions have found creative, meaningful ways to respond. One common element has been music, to help raise money, offer solace and express what cannot be articulated in words. Music is central to our culture—and looking back at previous tragedies, too, we're reminded how consistently true that has been throughout generations.

Enlarge Image

Getty Images

Paul McCartney, center, was among the high-wattage stars on hand to raise money at the '12-12-12' concert at Madison Square Garden.

Of course, the most visible single effort was the "12-12-12" benefit concert for Sandy relief that sold out Madison Square Garden by assembling an unparalleled collection of rock talent: Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones,Alicia Keys and others. It was a mega-watt production that had enough reach to raise significant sums: Already, $50 million has been raised and is being distributed by the Robin Hood Foundation.

While pop music is of its time, there were also concerts of timeless choral music. At Trinity Wall Street, the choir and orchestra presented Bach's Mass in B Minor, a masterpiece that connects to the highs and lows of human life and reaches beyond the moment. "The singing human voice can just touch the soul in a way that nothing else can," said conductor Julian Wachner. "There is intimacy and a directness to seeing 24 singers 10 feet away from you as opposed to at Madison Square Garden or on the radio."

In response to the shootings in Newtown, some artists have been sharing new work on social media sites. Musical theater composer Jason Robert Brown recorded himself singing the names of the deceased along with a composition he played at the piano, then posted it online. The piece was conceived, he said, when he read the list of names the day after the murders. The names made him think of the children in his 7-year-old daughter's class, and a tune came to him, so he went with it. "It was not all that conscious," he said. "In this case, it just sort of began and I felt responsible to keeping it going."

Ultimately, his song, and other efforts like it, explore a different realm of communication. "Art, be it visual or musical, speaks to something that is not expressible in words," Mr. Brown said. "Even poetry speaks to the words beyond the words. I still don't have any way to describe my emotions about it. All I could do was make music about it."

The proximity of the Newtown tragedy to the holidays has added an even more difficult layer of emotion. Conductor David Hayes, who leads the New York Choral Society and other groups, sensed the uncertainty of the audience when he led an annual Christmas carol sing-along in Philadelphia the day after the shootings. "Some people weren't quite prepared for it, and some people wanted to forget," he said, adding that he chose not to preface the concert with a spoken introduction. "I felt like the music would speak for itself. What could I say in words?"

Perhaps a year from now, there will be a new piece of music that serves as a memorial. After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, composer John Adams was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic to compose a work for the occasion. A year later, his "On the Transmigration of Souls" made its debut. Mr. Adams's haunting work, which blends the reading of names with orchestra and a choir of children and adults, earned the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for music.

"On the Transmigration of Souls" has been performed since, and it has assumed a broader significance, Mr. Hayes said: "It has had a chance to transcend its moment. It's about more than the specific event. It makes it universal."

That's what the great masterpieces in the classical repertory are—and have been for centuries. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, completed in 1824, was performed by the New York Philharmonic in response to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. (The orchestra chose to omit the "Ode to Joy.") In 1963, after the assassination of President Kennedy, the Philharmonic played Mahler's Symphony No. 2, completed in 1894, for a televised concert led by Leonard Bernstein.

If any musical figure could encapsulate a moment with a few words, it was Bernstein. Three days after Kennedy's death, the conductor addressed the United Jewish Appeal benefit at Madison Square Garden, delivering a speech that has been printed and quoted many times since. It bears printing and quoting again:

"We musicians, like everyone else, are numb with sorrow at this murder, and with rage at the senselessness of the crime. But this sorrow and rage will not inflame us to seek retribution; rather they will inflame our art. Our music will never again be quite the same. This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before."

Write to Pia Catton at pia.catton@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared December 24, 2012, on page A19 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: A Song Is Worth 1,000 Words.

Lunch Lady Fired for Giving Free Lunch to Low-Income Student

By Melissa Knowles

Arguably, next to recess, lunchtime is one part of the day that schoolchildren look forward to the most. It's a time to grab some grub and socialize with friends. Dianne Brame, the cafeteria manager at Hudson Elementary School in Webster Groves, Missouri, said she knows each one of her students by name. Brame took a special interest in one fourth grade boy. She noticed that he used to be on the free lunch program, but he had not been renewed to continue receiving free meals. Brame believed that was because his mother, who does not speak English, did not understand the paperwork for getting access to the meals.

So Brame stepped in and tried communicating with the family through the mail, but to no avail. Any kids who do not have current eligibility status are allowed to receive only three free regular meals. After that, the protocol is that these kids receive only a cheese sandwich and a carton of milk. Brame feared that the boy would be made fun of or bullied. So she gave him a free regular lunch for two months.

An employee reported Brame's actions to Chartwells, the food service company employed by the school that prepares the food served to the students. Chartwells then fired Brame. But the story does not end there.

When Chartwells found out the full details of the boy's story and why Brame took the actions that she did, they rehired her and said it was all just a misunderstanding. They released the following statement: "Chartwells appreciates the concern of this employee, and of all of our employees, who put the well being of school children first."

Brame told local TV station KSDK that she knew she had broken the rules, but she was trying to prevent the young man from being made fun of, and she would do it all over again, adding, "I don't think any kid should be hungry."

Hail to the lunch lady!

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Six year kids brutally murdered at the hands of a gunman in Newtown, Connecticut. We don't know what he wanted. We won't ever know what these kids would have become. As I was playing with my own 6 year old earlier today, I was reminded of the story of Guru Gobind Singh's youngest son: Fateh Singh. In the month of December he was murdered by the government of the time because he refused to convert to Islam. The course of large countries can be altered by the sentiments created by such events. A mass conversion of India never took place. And I am hoping that the course of gun violence will improve with the senseless act of horror in Connecticut last week. I hope.

Here is the story of the kid martyrs:

The youngest sons of Guru Gobind Singh Sahib Ji, Sahibzada Baba Zorawar Singh Ji and Sahibzada Baba Fateh Singh Ji were born at Anandpur Sahib. Thier grandmother Mata Gujjar Kaur Ji was especially close to the young Sahibzadas. When Guru Ji's family evacuated from Anandpur Sahib, Mata Ji took charge of both of them as the column moved out of the city.

While crossing on horseback the rivulet Sirsa, then in spate, the three were separated from Guru Gobind Singh Sahib Ji. Gangu, who had worked for the Guru's family, also succeeded in crossing the stream. He escorted them to his own house in the village of Kheri, now known as Saheri, near Morinda in presentday Ropar district. While unsaddling the horse he saw that there was some cash in the saddlebag. This tempted him to treachery. He not only stole the saddlebag during the night, but also planned to betray the fugitives to the government in hope of a reward.

On the morning of 7 December 1705, the day of the fateful battle of Chamkaur, Baba Zorawar Singh ji, along with Baba Fateh Singh ji and their grandmother, was taken into custody by Jani Khan and Mani Khan Ranghar, the officials at Morinda. They were despatched on the following day to Sirhind where they were consigned to the Cold Tower (Thanda Burj) of the Fort.

On 9 December 1705, Baba Zorawar Singh ji and Baba Fateh Singh ji were produced before the faujdaar, Nawab Wazir Khan, who had just returned from Chamkaur with his feudal ally, Nawab Sher Muhammad Khan of Malerkotla. Wazir Khan tried to lure the Sahibzadas to embrace Islam with promises of riches and honours, but they spurned the suggestion. He then threatened them with death, but they remained undaunted. Death sentence was finally pronounced. Upon Sher Muhammad Khan's intercession for the innocent children to be spared their lives, they were given some more time to ponder over the suggestion to convert. Sahibzada Zorawar Singh ji and his brother spent another two days of severe winter in their old grandmother's lap in the Cold Tower.

Still adamant, they were, on 11 December 1705, ordered to be sealed alive in a wall. As the masonry around their tender bodies reached chest high, it crumbled. The Sahibzadas were sent to the Cold Tower again for the night. The next day, 12 December 1705, the alternative of conversion being again turned down, Baba Zorawar Singh ji and Baba Fateh Singh ji were martyred by sealing alive in a wall. The aged Mata Gujari Kaur ji, who had all along been kept in the Cold Tower, only a little distance away, breathed her last as the news reached her ears. Mata Gujari ji through upbringing of her grandsons played such an important role in Sikhism that as Sikhs, we can owe our existence to her. It was due to her teachings that the young Babas did not bulge from their Dharma and attained martyrdom, thus continuing and emphasizing the institute of martyrdom in Sikhism.

Seth Todar Mall, a wealthy merchant of Sirhind, performed the cremation of the three dead bodies the following day. The site of the fateful happenings, since christened Fatehgarh Sahib, close to the old town of Sirhind, is now marked by four Sikh shrines. A religious fair is held here from 25 to 28 December every year to honour the memory of the martyrs.

Today I am meditating upon a poem by Robert Bly -

Wanting Sumptuous Heavens - A poem by Robert Bly

No one grumbles among the oyster clans,
And lobsters play their bone guitars all summer.
Only we, with our opposable thumbs, want
Heaven to be, and God to come, again.
There is no end to our grumbling; we want
Comfortable earth and sumptuous Heaven.
But the heron standing on one leg in the bog
Drinks his dark rum all day, and is content.

Are you Grumbling or Singing?

This poem carries a profound message that resonates with Guru Nanak's wisdom of surrendering to the divine will and finding contentment through simplicity. It draws a stark contrast between the human tendency to grumble and yearn for more, symbolized by our opposable thumbs that can create and manipulate, and the creatures of the natural world, who seem content in their simplicity. In Guru Nanak's teachings, the act of singing, or devotional expression, is seen as a way to connect with the divine and find peace in surrendering to the divine will. Bly's portrayal of grumbling as the antithesis of singing underscores the idea that we often choose to complain about our circumstances rather than embracing them.

Bly's poem suggests that, unlike these "lesser" animals, we, as humans, possess the unique ability to ponder the nature of heaven, desire comfort, and seek divine intervention. However, this very capacity can lead to our restlessness and dissatisfaction. The heron in the poem, standing on one leg in the bog and sipping its dark rum, represents the simplicity and contentment that can be found in embracing the present moment and the natural world. In juxtaposing our desires with the heron's contented existence, the poem challenges us to reflect on the wisdom of accepting what is and finding contentment within ourselves, echoing Guru Nanak's message of surrender and devotion as a path to peace and spiritual fulfillment.

The poem also reminds me of what Mirza Ghalib said about Heavens: I know that it is a lie; its just a way to keep the heart happy: Humko Maloom Hai Jannat Ki Haqiqat

The following story indicates that humans must have had sex with neanderthals:

A bundle of recent genetic studies have suggested that modern humans had sex with Neanderthals thousands of years ago when the two populations roamed the planet alongside each other. However, the bones left behind by the two species don't bear any obvious traces of interbreeding and a new study of monkeys in Mexico shows why we shouldn't expect them to.

Researchers examined blood samples, hair samples and measurements collected from mantled howler monkeys and black howler monkeys that were live-captured and released in Mexico and Guatemala between 1998 and 2008. The two monkey species splintered off from a common ancestor about 3 million years ago and today they live in mostly separate habitats, except for a "hybrid zone" in the state of Tabasco in southeastern Mexico, where they coexist and interbreed.

Through an analysis of genetic markers, from both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, the researchers identified 128 hybrid individuals that were likely the product of several generations of interbreeding. But these hybrids shared most of their genome with either one of the two species and were physically indistinguishable from the pure individuals of that species, the team found.

"The implications of these results are that physical features are not always reliable for identifying individuals of hybrid ancestry," Liliana Cortés-Ortiz, an evolutionary biologist and primatologist with the University of Michigan, said in a statement. "Therefore, it is possible that hybridization has been underestimated in the human fossil record."

The work on howler monkeys was part of the doctoral dissertation of Mary Kelaita, now a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Kelaita added that the study "suggests that the lack of strong evidence for hybridization in the fossil record does not negate the role it could have played in shaping early human lineage diversity."

When scientists finally finished sequencing the Neanderthal genome in 2010, they revealed that 1 percent and 4 percent of some modern humans' DNA came from the stocky hominids. This suggested that humans had sex with Neanderthals, picking up some genes, and possibly even an immunity boost, from Neanderthals before the population disappeared about 30,000 years ago. But not all scientists are convinced that the genetic evidence alone proves ancient interbreeding and a study last year found that even if humans and Neanderthals did have sex, those encounters would have been rarely successful in producing offspring.

The scientists of the new study say more work is needed to study interbreeding and the factors governing the expression of physical characteristics in hybrid individuals.

The research was detailed online today (Dec. 7) in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

In Punjabi folklore, a crow crowing nearby is supposed to signal the coming of guests, especially a loved one. In this song, the singer has been waiting for a long time for his love and has given up hope. He hears a crow crowing at the porch of his window and asks the crow to not sing and give him false hope.

Translation and Video of a sufi song by Nusrat:
Aiwain Bol Na Banere Utte Kaavaan

Simple Lyrics (for all the quoted poems see below)

Aiwain Bol Na Banere Utte Kaavaan
Sajjana Nahi Aunaa
Paiyaan Kadon diyaan Sunjiyaan Raavaan
Sajjana Nahi Aunaa

Dil mere noo vad bhadkaaven
Kaanu aiwain boliyan Paaven
Chup kar jaa main tainu samjhaavaan

Naa toon bolee bol banere
Ud Jaa Tarley paavan tere
Naa Joothiyaan de sadaavaan

karke bol nibhaunda koi nai

Ja ke vaapas aanda koi nai

tainu lakh di ik sunaavan

Sochan de wich dil ghabraya
Sadik mud vataneen nahi aayaa
Auna hove te dasse sarnaavan

Simple Translation

Don't crow on my window
My love is not going to come
For a long time this street is empty
My love is not going to come

You are giving hope to my heart
Why are you speaking these lies
Be quiet I am trying to explain
My love is not going to come

Don't speak on my window
I beg you fly away please
Don't make these false prayers

My love is not going to come

No one keeps their word

No one comes back once gone

Of all things I know, I know this best
My love is not going to come

In thoughts my heart trembles
My love will not return home

If he planned to come he would give me an address

My love is not going to come

Vocabulary

Sarnava (sarnaavan) - Address

Additional antaras (Akram Rahi)

Ud jaa ve kaavan avain boliyan na bol ve

jind saadi ditti maahi rol ve
ve main ro ro ke vakat langhaavan

Assan jide pyaar diyaan kitiyaan abadataan

oh sanu ron diyaan paa gaya e aadataan

hoyian puriyaan na sadiyaan duaavaan

ja ke onnu aakhi dukhi kalle bai ke ronde ni

teriyaan udeekan laake raavan 'ch khalonde ni

jinnu ditiyaan tu lammiyaan sazaavaan

guzre zamane jadoon yaad mainu aande ne

teri hi khayaan sadi akhiyaan ch bhaunde ne

jithe milde saan ron paiyaan thaavaaan

More Lyrics

pardes gayaan pardesi hoyaan

teriaan nitt vatnaan val loran

jogan kamli karke sutt gayaan

baithi kakh galiyan de bhoraan

chaal piya di aisi niraali

jivein pehlaan payiyaan moraan

yaar fareed main kaafir howan

je mukh sajna walon moraan

You went far away, became a stranger

I constantly remember you here

You made me crazy, then threw me away

I can't find anything on the streets

My love walks so beautifully

like a peacock dancing

I would be called an outcast

if I turn away from my love

kook dilan kaddi rabb sunesi

ehna dard mandan diyan aahin

tailan baaj na ballan mashaalan

kitte dardan baaj na aahin

lokan diyan jhokan payiyaan wasdiyan aayiyaan

kaddi saddi vi wasdi aahi

ki hoya tussan bolan chaddeya

assan vekhan chaddna naahi

Someday God will hear my cry

Such are the sorrowful sighs

without oil mashaals don't burn

there are no sighs

so what if you don't talk to me

I won't stop

aa kaaga tainu churiyaan paawan

kaddi sadde vi baith banere

de paigaam koi sajna waala

ve main shagan manaawan tere

aa ke baith banere sadde

shayad aa jaan saajan mere

addiyaan chuk chuk yaar fareeda

raah takkan main shaam savere

come crow, sit on my window sill

I will make you a sweet dessert

give me some message from my love

I will celebrate your coming

come and sit on my window sill

perhaps my love would also come

I am standing on my heels O Fareed

looking for you on the way all day

avein bol na banere utte kaawaan sajna nahi aaona

chete haar shingaar na mainu

bhul gayiyaan sab sakhiyaan

har dam ohdi raahwan vekhan

eh dukhiyaariyaan ankhiyaan

tak tak ohdiyaan sunjhiyaan raahwan

hun nazaran vi ne thakkiyaan

saadik sajna nahi aaona

assi pher vi aasaan rakhiyaan

yaad ohdi vich chham chham raunde nain ne dardan maare

kulli yaad bhulaayan vi na kite lakh main chaare

mukh partaake tur gaya maahi karke jhoothe kaare

saadik rehndiyan dinne udeekan raat nu ginn diyan taare

avein bol na banere utte kaawaan sajna nahi aaona

payiyaan kadon diyan sunjiyaan raahwaan sajna nahi aaona

dil mere nu wad wad khaawe

kaanu evein boliyan paawe

chup kar ja tainu main samjhaawan

sajna nahi aaona

na tu boli bol banere

mud ja tarle paawan tere

na jhoothiyan de sadaawaan

sajna nahi aaona

sochan de vich dil ghabraaya

'Saadik' mud watani nahi aaya

aaona howe te dasse sarnaawa

sajna nahi aaona

(For other translations see: Translations)

Raag: Bhatiyar
Thaat: Marwa
Time: Dawn

Notes (Swaras): Komal Rishabh, both Shuddha and Tivra Madhyam. All other notes are Shuddha.
Raag Bhatiyar is a morning Raaga. An offshoot of Thaat Marwa, Raag Bhatiyar has a strong emotional undercurrent – something you might not expect from a morning melody. The Raaga begins with all Shuddha notes; Sa-Ma-Pa-Dha-Ni.. all pure just like the morning dew. It almost lulls you back into that tasteful sleep you just woke up from. You sit back enjoying a cup of hot tea with the newpaper lying on the table in your front and that is when Bhatiyar takes a wild turn while on Nishad, skipping the higher Shadja and falling upon Komal Rishibh revealing a deep sorrow that has always been lingering beneath the seemingly serene surface of the pure notes of the Raaga. In the audio clip, focus on the connection between Shuddh Nishad and Komal Rishabh while Mashkoor Ali Khan sings the words ‘…Murata Murari’.

But after that unexpected emotional burst, just when you begin to experience melancholy, Raag Bhatiyar returns to its jovial mood with sequences like (Sa) Dha-Ni-Pa, Pa-Ma-Pa, Ga-Pa-Ga-Re-Sa and brings the smile back on your face.

Raag Bhatiyar is not an easy Raaga to perform what with its intricate and complex tactics. Only an acclaimed artiste can unfold this Raaga for your experience and only an acclaimed artiste can reveal the essence of this Raaga. Raag Bhatiyar is immensely pleasing and peaceful to ears. Raag Bhatiyar possesses healing qualities; it can effectively console an aggrieved mind and calm your soul.

The song of the crow
- Devdutt Pattanaik

Everyone wonders: Why do good things happen to bad people? Why do fortunes never come the way we desire? Why are we unhappy? Why do we have to marry and produce children? From these questions come our understanding of the world.

The word ‘why’ is translated as ka in Sanskrit, the sacred language of Hinduism. Ka is the first consonant of the Sanskrit language. It is both an interrogation as well as an exclamation. It is also one of the earliest names given to God in Hinduism.

During funeral ceremonies, Hindus are encouraged to feed crows. The crow caws, “Ka?! Ka?!” It is the voice of the ancestors who hope that the children they have left behind on earth spend adequate time on the most fundamental question of existence, “Why?! Why?!”

In mythology there is a crow called Kakabhusandi who sits on the branch of Kalpataru, the wish-fulfilling tree. The tree fulfills every wish but is unable to answer Kakabhusandi’s timeless and universal question, “Ka?! Ka?!”

The question need not be why. It can be who. Who is responsible for giving me this life? Or it can be what. What can be responsible for giving me this life? From the root ‘ka’ comes the various interrogatives that are parts of Hindi, a modern Indian language which has Sanskrit as one of its major tributaries: what or kya, who or kaun, why or kyon, how or kaise.

The 19th century European Orientalists presented Hinduism to the world as a religion when they discovered in Vedic scriptures an underlying thought that unified the diversity of Indian customs, hitherto deemed pagan and heathen. But the religions they were exposed to, such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, tended to be prescriptive, with very clear rules and codes of conduct. Vedic is more reflective than prescriptive. Reflections are timeless and universal while prescriptions are contextual specific to communities of a particular place in a particular period. Many therefore do not like viewing Hinduism as a religion and prefer to see it as a way of life. Reflections begin when we ask the question, ‘why’. There is no hurry to conclude or to cling to a convenient answer. The exploration continues for as long as it takes, until one is satisfied.

In India, the answer offered for the circumstances over which one has no control is karma. Actions in our past lives determine the fortunes and misfortunes of this life. We thus are made responsible for our bodies and our families. Actions performed in this life will determine our body and our family in our next life.

Is this true? No one knows. But the consequences of believing it are far-reaching.

Belief in rebirth puts the responsibility of our life squarely on our shoulders. For actions that we committed we have been given the life that we are living. We may not remember those past actions, but we are responsible for the present moment, nevertheless.

Mandavya one day found himself being arrested and brutally punished by the king’s guard for a crime he did not commit. “Why?” he asked Yama, the god of death. Yama looked at the book of karma and replied, “As a child you tortured insects. This is the reaction of that action. What seems unfair in one lifetime, becomes fair when one considers several lifetimes.”

Who then is responsible for my life and my fortunes and misfortunes? I am. This means I cannot blame anyone for my misfortune, not my parents, not my circumstances, not my DNA, not even God.

Karma is loosely translated as fate.

Only humans can ask these questions and reflect on life. Ka ?! Because humans have an evolutionary advantage. We are blessed with the neo-frontal cortex, the part of the brain behind the forehead. This is the human brain located on top of the animal brain. It allows us to do what no other creature can do: it allows us to imagine!

Hindus smear their forehead with ash or sandal paste or red kumkum powder. It is the dot known as bindi on the forehead of women. It is the vertical and upwardly directed line known as tilak on the forehead of men. It is a ritual through which voiceless ancestors are telling the children they left behind on earth: use this unique organ behind your forehead. It is what makes you human!

Only humans can imagine a world that is distinct from reality. We can compare reality with an imagined reality and therefore wonder why reality is the way it is. We can imagine being born in another family and wonder: why was I born in this one? We can imagine being born with a taller or shorter, fairer or darker, body and wonder: why was I born with this one? Imagination propels us towards the question: Ka?!

Imagination is translated as manas. Humans possess manas. Therefore the human race is the race of Manavas, those who can imagine. The leader of the human race becomes Manu. Manas also means the mind, the mind which can take flight like a bird or slither like a serpent, and look at the world both broadly and narrowly, reflect on things here and not here, exist both here and now and also over there in the past and over here in the future.

While the human brain enjoys imagination, it does not enjoy introspection. Pondering on questions and seeking answers needs a lot of energy in the form of glucose. Glucose is a precious body fuel. The body would rather conserve this energy for moments of crisis. Naturally, though humans are the only creatures with the wherewithal to introspect, human physiology is geared to block this process. It takes a great amount of will to overpower this block and introspect and seek the answer to Ka. In a way, this is very similar to exercise. It demands huge will power. Few indulge in this quest. Fewer still are naturally inclined for it. The one who indulges in this quest is called a brahmana.

The word brahmana is derived from the Sanskrit root ‘brh’ meaning ‘to grow’ and ‘manas’. All living creatures grow physically after birth. But there is a limit to this physical growth. Humans are the only creatures capable of limitless growth. Why? Because of manas. The possibilities offered by imagination and introspection are infinite. The one who uses these infinite possibilities to discover Ka therefore becomes brahmana, the one with expanded imagination.

From the root ‘brh’ also comes the name of God. Not one, but two. One is Brahma. The other is brahmn. Notice the difference in spelling and the use of capitals. Brahma is pronounced by laying stress to the latter vowel; brahmn is pronounced laying stree to no vowel; brahmana is produced by laying stress to the first vowel and the last consonant. Brahma is a proper noun, brahmn is not considered a noun while brahmana is a common noun. Brahma is a finite personality, brahmn is an infinite abstract notion. The brahmana is the one who seeks to move from the finite to the infinite, from the form to the formless, from Brahma to brahmn.

Every human being is a Brahma. The day he seeks to decipher the puzzle of Ka, the song of the crow, he becomes a brahmana. Every human being has the wherewithal to realize Ka, hence brahmn. Brahma is who we are while brahmn is who we can become. One transforms from Brahma to brahmn, from finiteness to infiniteness, from restlessness to repose, from anxiety to self-assurance, by using the neo-frontal context to imagine and introspect. Bowing to deities in temples and fellow human beings is to remind those before us of the Vedic maxim, “Tat Tvam Asi,” meaning ‘that’s what you are’, you are Brahma who is capable of realizing brahmn. That’s what I am too, hence “Aham Brahmasmi.”

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	Fay Hart (@fayhart101)
12/16/12, 8:35 PM The important thing is not to think much, but to love much and so, do that which best stirs you to love. ~ St Teresa of Avila

	Loveszar (@Loveszar)
12/16/12, 5:19 AM "It is easy to believe we are each waves and forget we are also the ocean." ― Jon J. Muth