4/18/2011

Understanding is a process of integration - of all accumulated knowledge and experience - this definition itself was an outcome of that process!

What prompted the genesis of this definition on this day ? - Will detail another day

Trying to make a success out of a potentially smaller failure, might lead to a bigger failure. It makes sense to just let go of certain things!!

Peace of 'mind' is a state where there is harmony between the heart and the mind.

Quote of the day, "His ideas were so old that they were new again", in the book 'Genius Factory' by David Plotz, about the history of the Nobel-Prize Sperm bank. This was a quote by the author about Robert Graham's idea that mankind could only be saved by proliferating the genes of smart and intelligent people.

For the first time, i saw the craters of the moons through a 20" refracting telescope at the Chabot Space and Science Center, near Oakland, CA . It was impressive, as the dome was opened out and this telescope which was possibly more than 300 feet in length, was positioned to point to the moon. The entire telescope was swung and rotated vertically about its center, easily. The dome rotated and positioned the telescope and the viewing angle to capture the best view of the moon's craters, about 250,000 miles away! That was incredible, when experiencing first hand.
The people working there were very knowledgeable (no surprise!) and friendly and were patiently answering all the questions.
We (myself, kids and chitra) also saw Jupiter and its 3 moons from another 8" telescope. The moons were not visible to the naked eye.
The experience was inspiring enough that the kids immediately wanted me to get a telescope. What surprised me was the fact that 7-yr old Sadhana was also asking interesting questions to the crew there, since i was of the view that Sadhana was probably not ready for this experience. Evidently, Sahana was quite interested.
Besides the Telescope viewing, the exhibits, facts and presentation of all aspects of space - The solar system, stars, Universe, moon landing, the rockets, telescopes - everything was grand, comprehensive, artistic and solid - the experience handed, etched the science and facts so well, i would say this center is a must-see for all, and something to be cherished by all Californians.

As a bonus, the night-time view of the city of Oakland and Berkeley from the hill top was breath-taking enough, it is in itself worth a visit.

i came across this video, which is one of the most exhilarating video i have seen... in the sense, it has the best inspirational content. Don't mind all the superlatives, since it really deserves 'em all. Interestingly, i also found that watching it over and over again doesn't dilute the message a wee bit. Okay, here it is:
http://people.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=mount-everest.htm&url=http://www.touchthetop.com/

and then click on the "Short Video of Erik"

or click on this link, if it works
http://www.leadingauthorities.com/ram/weihenmayer_e.ram

Life on the Planet:
"Life wants to be"
"Life wants to be only as much"
"Life becomes extinct"
"Life goes on"
Bill Bryson, in "A short history of nearly everything", one of the best epilogues of the section on "Life".
One should read (or hear the audiobook) to appreciate these four sentences. In short, it starts from the millions of speciesof microbes which exist through some of the most adverse conditions known to humankind, just to satisfy the instinctive "want to be" ; Some organisms shut themselves down through periods and locales just so they can resurrect themselves for brief periods, only to go back to "slumber" -> "wants to be only as much" ; During the whole of earth's existence, life has experienced several major extinctions and many smaller extinction phases, only to lay the environmental foundation to rejuvenate life in more splendorous forms. Extinction is a sure thing for all life on earth, whether from external factors like meteor or comet impact, or several other myriad causes, both internal and external imbalances ; "Life becomes extinct and rejuvenates in more splendorous forms", thus "life goes on".
i cannot help but recall that this is quite akin to the MahaPralayams and Pralayams described in the Hindu religious texts. More on that later, after some due diligence and research