Alan Watts (1915 – 1973) was a great entertainer. A “philosophical entertainer” with the emphasis on the entertainer bit. Fortunately for us, his talks are available on YouTube. He was a fascinating person, as you can gather from the wiki… Read More ›
My Belief
Of Prizes and People
We humans instinctively categorize, especially people. We are amateur primitive set-theoreticians. There are infinite ways to categorize people since humans have a humongous number of characteristics. Consider the categories of people who award prize and people who win prizes. In… Read More ›
There are 10 Kinds of People
A comp sci joke claims that there are 10 kinds of people: those who understand binary numerals and those who don’t. Being a former computer science student myself, I find it tickles my funny bone.
Maya, Moksha, Nama and Rupa
Maya Pondering the fact of death, I am reminded that impermanence is a central feature of the world we live in. The phenomenal world — of things and events — is called maya in the dharmic traditions (namely Jain, Hindu,… Read More ›
Material and Cosmological Beliefs
I am a Hindu. In what sense am I a Hindu? Does what I read, write, wear and consume make me a Hindu? I think, read and write in English, I wear Western style clothing, I live in a Western… Read More ›
AMA: the “What I Profess” edition
This is a confession of my beliefs on a variety of subjects, some fundamental and some derivative. It partly answers the question “who am I?” and goes some way in demonstrating that the matters I profess have coherence, consistency and… Read More ›
Thoughts on the Passing of Shri Balasaheb Thackeray
Shri Balasaheb Thackeray passed away today (Saturday afternoon India time) in Mumbai. Much of what I know about current events, I learn from the handful of people I follow on twitter. So I got to know of Balasaheb’s death through… Read More ›
The End of Work: An Essay on the Dawning of the Post-work World
“The progress of civilization can be measured by how many people are available to not do any work. The trend has been that of an increasing number of (as well as a larger percentage of) people that don’t have to… Read More ›
The Tyranny of Faith
One can’t seem to get away from the devastating effects of faith – especially monotheistic religious faith – around the world. Blind faith can justify anything. If a man believes in a different god, or even if he uses a… Read More ›
The Most Important Image Ever Taken
The Hubble Deep Field and the Most Important Image Ever Taken by Humanity. Watch it and wonder. Wonder how insignificant our concerns are, how parochial our interests, how utterly immaterial even our greatest conflicts are. Watch it and wonder how… Read More ›