Practical Philosophy Made Easy: Embracing Chanakya's "Neeti"

Are you someone who aspires to gain knowledge from philosophical books but finds them tedious after a few pages? Do you struggle to differentiate between spiritual and practical philosophy? Are you in search of a trustworthy guru who can guide you through life's complexities? If you resonate with these questions, then you've come to the right place. 

In this blog, I will share my personal journey of finding my guru and how Chanakya's "Neeti" transformed my perspective on life.

1. The Quest for Wisdom:

Life often presents us with challenging problems, be it office politics, financial struggles, or relationship issues. It was during such a phase in my life that I realized the importance of seeking wisdom to navigate these obstacles successfully.

2. The Dilemma with Philosophical Books:

In my pursuit of knowledge, I turned to renowned philosophical works like the Bhagavad Gita and different Vedanta schools. However, I soon found myself grappling with the complexity and struggled to apply their teachings to real-life situations. It became evident that while these sources were profound, they required years of study to extract practical wisdom.

3. Discovering Chanakya's "Neeti":

Amidst my search for a more straightforward and applicable philosophy, I stumbled upon Chanakya's "Neeti." To my surprise, within a mere three days of reading, I absorbed a wealth of knowledge and became an ardent admirer of Chanakya. Despite some outdated views and controversial statements, his teachings resonated deeply with me.

4. The Appeal of Chanakya as My Guru:

Two key factors drew me towards Chanakya as my ultimate guru. Firstly, his wisdom had withstood the test of time, as validated by countless individuals over centuries. This assurance shielded me from scams, biases, and political influences that can taint modern gurus. Secondly, Chanakya's straightforward and realistic approach set him apart from more spiritually inclined sources.

5. The Roasting Guru:

Unlike his more pleasant counterparts, Chanakya's teachings are laced with bluntness and directness. He fearlessly criticizes and admonishes, making his wisdom both impactful and memorable.

In conclusion, if you are seeking a practical and reliable source of wisdom, I highly recommend investing 3 to 5 days to read Chanakya's "Neeti." Through my personal experience, I have found solace and guidance in his teachings, allowing me to lead a better life. Embrace the ancient wisdom of Chanakya, and unlock the power to navigate life's challenges with ease and confidence.

The Three Pillars of Success: Happiness, Richness, and Achievements

What does it mean to be successful? Is it about having a lot of money? Achieving great things? Or being happy?

The truth is, success is different for everyone. But there is one thing that all successful people have in common: they have found the right balance of happiness, richness, and achievements.

Happiness is essential for success. When you are happy, you are more motivated, productive, and creative. You are also more likely to take risks and try new things.

Richness can also contribute to success. Having money can give you the freedom to pursue your dreams and goals. It can also help you to provide for your family and loved ones.

Achievements are another important part of success. When you achieve something that you have been working towards, it gives you a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. It can also boost your confidence and make you more likely to succeed in the future.

Success is a multidimensional concept that encompasses more than just wealth and accomplishments. It requires finding the right balance between happiness, richness, and achievements. By prioritizing our well-being, defining our own version of success, and cultivating a harmonious balance in life, we can create a fulfilling and meaningful journey towards success. Remember, true success lies in finding joy, nurturing relationships, growing as an individual, and making a positive impact on the world around us.

Inception : Deep Dive into Movie Climax

The thing which gets you perplexed is the plot of the movie 'Inception'. The more number of times you watch the movie the lesser sense it makes and you would start finding many Plotholes. Let's do a deep dive into one of the most controversial movie endings. 

SPOILER ALERT : Please watch the movie before reading this post since this contains many spoilers.

The Movie doesn't provide a closure for audience as the movie ends before one could know whether Cobb's Totum kept spinning or eventually stops. This boils down to the question : Whether Cobb is still dreaming or is in reality ?    

According to me, the climax of the movie depends on the actual definition of “Limbo”.I think the movie provided contradicting definitions of Limbo on multiple occasions :

1) Definition 1 : In Level 1 Dream Conversation when Ariadne asks “How Long could we be stuck there” , Yusuf says “Can’t even think of trying to escape until the sedation is eased”. That means you cannot get out of Limbo even if you kill yourself.

2) Definition 2 : In other conversation Cobb explains that when you die in Limbo then you would wake up straight back in reality ( No Clarity provided on whether it is the case even if you are sedated strongly or not) . If you manually/voluntarily enter Limbo then you could retain the knowledge that you are still dreaming and dare to kill yourself to wake up in reality.

If Definition 1 from Yusuf is correct then many things in the movie makes sense :
1) Cobb and Mal were able to come out of the Limbo not because they killed themselves , it is because the sedation was eased and they had spent good amount of time growing old in Limbo.It might have been just a co-incidence that them killing themselves and sedation easing off happened at the same time.
2) At the end of movie , when Saito and Cobb realize this is a dream and presumably killed themselves , they wouldn’t have woken up in reality because the sedation wouldn’t have yet eased. So Cobb was still dreaming.

If Definition 2 of Limbo is correct, then the climax would end in “reality” and there would be a lot of Plot holes which requires a lot of assumptions and justifications.

Conclusion : So I would just assume that Yusuf’s understanding of Limbo is correct since he is the chemist and knows the facts about the sedative & it’s impact on human brain. Cobb’s understanding of Limbo is wrong and the climax of the movie is that Cobb is still dreaming.

If you are interested in understanding the complete plot of the movie then please read this amazing breakdown and analysis by my friend Sameeran Rao : https://themoviecourt.wordpress.com/2018/12/01/movie-primer-inception/ 

Does God really Exist ? : Let's see what Science , Philosophy and Mathematics say about it.

 

Ever since my childhood I had gazillion questions regarding existence of God.

Does God exist ?  Why should we worship God ?  Can I manipulate God's existence ?  Does God punish you if you do not worship him ?  Why should I donate money to Temples rather donate the same to charity ?  Why can't I top my class just by worshiping God ? Does God really expect me to create debt to provide him offerings if I am already in debt ?

Well, based on my silly questions above if you are judging me that I must be a moron and an Atheist then you are partially wrong. I might be a moron but definitely not an Atheist . Look at my other set of questions : Why can't Science disprove the existence of God ? If God doesn't exist then why does more than 90% of the people in this world believe in God ? If you are hopeless, is faith(god) the solution ? Is God actually a concept rather than reality of existence ?

Yes , I am an agnostic and my quest is to really understand the logic behind existence of God.

SPOILER ALERT : I have not yet found a completely convincing answer regarding existence of God but I have made some crazy explorations which gets me closer to get a convincing answer regarding existence of God.

1) What does Science say about existence of God ?

Nothing!  Literally nothing!

By Science , I meant understanding of natural phenomenon. Mathematics is the language used in Science but lets talk about mathematics later. For now lets just say in this context "Science" means experiments , objective evidence , observable facts etc.

Over the past thousands of years , mankind has used science to understand the universe , natural phenomenon , logic behind most common things we come across everyday. But still there are so many things which mankind is trying to understand. We might have discovered millions of organisms living on this planet but there millions more which are not yet discovered. There are places on this planet where mankind is not able to explore like deep oceans(Oceans cover almost 71% of earth) , remote polar regions etc. Recently a robotic machine called "Nereus" had reached approx 11 km deep in Marianna Trench but still it is not enough since that was not the end of ocean.

So clearly science does not give me answer to existence of god because it itself has so much left to explore.

2) What does Philosophy say about existence of God ?

Science is part of Philosophy but in this context "Philosophy" means understanding of mankind , existence and relationship between them.

I have been taught many things in school about various scriptures , epics(Mahābhārata and Ramayana) , history of mankind etc. If I look for answers to existence of God , some are spiritual in nature while some are religious. Chanakya in his book "Chanakya Niti" says "Mother is above all God" (by the way Chanakya is one kickass philosopher . I just love his preaching and really like his delivery style. If you are wondering why I used the term "kickass" instead of "great" then you must read "Chanakya Niti" to understand it). And there is a famous sanksrit verse "अहं ब्रह्मास्मि" (Ahaṁ Brahmāsmi) which means "I am the ultimate energy" (in other words "I am God").

Does this mean God is a person who is dearest to us ? Are we worshiping ourselves ? Was I praying to myself all these days to get stuff done ? . OMG!! Too much to digest.

I have also watched talks of many modern day Gurus/Yogis/Godmans (sensible and nonsensical charlatan gurus). But speaking about sensible gurus , yes there are a lot of things which makes sense about what they say. It starts getting dull for me once they start speaking about spirituality , mind , inner peace etc because I really do not get it. May be I am not that intelligent enough to understand it but anyways those doesn't make sense to it.

So I have not yet got convincing answer or logic for existence of God in the world of philosophy.

3) What Mathematics say about existence of God ? 

All my life till this day , if there was anything which made sense to me and which I could clearly understand then that would be Mathematics. I really believe Mathematics is the language of universe.

Mathematics is transparent. You have set of axioms which makes sense to you and prove a theory using these basic axioms. Then the new proved theory becomes an axiom. So simple right?

While reading some random article on facebook , I came across this field called Ontology which is kind of philosophical study of being but it has more to do with logical explanation rather than spiritual/religious explanations.

Kurt Gödel who is said to be one of the greatest mathematicians of all time , made all the mathematicians question the whole system of mathematics itself through his mind blowing "Gödel's incompleteness theorems". After going through "Gödel's incompleteness theorems", I was really impressed on how logic can be used to prove the impossible. You guessed it right , then it must be in some way possible to get answer to "Existence of God" using Mathematics.

After Kurt Godel died , there were many of his unpublished theories which were recovered from his personal belongings and one of them was the great "Gödel's ontological proof" for existence of God.

I was very excited and started to go through the theorem. Franky speaking , It was not that easy proof to understand. I had to first learn several axioms which are not basic , Gödel's assumptions which are very skeptical in nature and other mathematical concepts like Modal Logic to finally understand the proof.

After spending some time understanding the proof, I was very impressed and truly speaking if those assumptions were to be axioms then it would have convinced me that God does exist but I am very skeptical about the assumptions made in "Gödel's ontological proof" for existence of God. So that's not enough for me to get convinced but far far far better than other areas I explored because you know I love Mathematics and it makes sense to me.

Conclusion :

After exploring multiple areas to understand the existence of God , I clearly understood that this is not a question to which you get simple answer. 

Finally a random thought passed my mind which is : If paradoxes can exist in nature , if a number can be positive and negative at the same time , Why can't there be a scenario of God's existence and non-existence be true at the same ? Why can't Theist and Atheist both be correct ? 

My Opinion : Existence of God is a paradox. Now, how do we solve paradoxes ? Only God Knows :P.