Calvin and Hobbs – Ramana's Musings

What Is The Point?

I have recently been noticing a tendency on my part to pontificate on many things from my past, particularly when my daughter in law Manjiree, who has come into my life just two years ago, asks some innocuous question about something that triggers off either a nostalgic visit to the past or to something that used to be that no longer exists. The point is, that in both cases, her original question usually remains unanswered till I finish my soliloquy with the past and either remember it or she frustratedly asks it again.

I must make a conscious effort not to indulge in such pointless soliloquies. That is the moral that I have learnt from the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip that I reproduce below.

And I am much older than Calvin’s father here. Incidentally, another pointless piece of information, in all the time that I have enjoyed Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin’s parents are never called by their names. Dad, Mom, Hon etc are the only terms used. Can someone correct me if I am wrong?

Please click on the image for a larger resolution.

Relativism.

Relativism is the concept that points of view have no absolute truth or validity, having only relative, subjective value according to differences in perception and consideration.

Relativism thrives when people do not have to shoulder the burden of actually coming to a conclusion .

~ Simon Blackburn

I thank Max for the inspiration for this post.

Commitment To The Unverifiable.

This topic had to come from my good friend who intends partnering me in an ashram some time in the future. While he will be the Guru, I will be the gate collection manager.

There are only two commitments that come to my mind that people commit to without verification. One is of course God and the other is the after life. To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever seen God nor has come back to share experiences of hell or heaven. But these two are the commitments that are universal and have caused more problems for mankind than any other ever.

This topic was suggested by The Old Fossil Conrad for the weekly Friday Loose Bloggers Consortium where currently six of us write on the same topic every Friday. I hope that you enjoyed my contribution to that effort. The five other bloggers who write regularly are, in alphabetical order, Ashok, gaelikaa, Maxi, and Shackman and The Old Fossil. Do drop in on their blogs and see what their take is on this week’s topic. Since some of them may post late, or not at all this week, do give some allowance for that too!

As You Like It.

When one is a busy housewife with four children and a long distance commuting husband, living in a joint family in India, finding time to spare for intellectual kite flying is difficult. So, when I urged Maria G for some topics to be included in the list for the year for the LBC posts, in an inspired flash of originality, she came up with a list of Shakespearean dramas. Readers will remember our post on Much Ado About Nothing some time ago which was the beginning of this series.

This is the second of a series the rest of which my readers will come to read eventually in the weekly Friday Loose Bloggers Consortium where five of us write on the same topic. The four other bloggers who write regularly are, in alphabetical order, Ashok, gaelikaa, Maxi, and Shackman. Do drop in on their blogs and see what their take is on this week’s topic. Since some of them may post late, or not at all this week, do give some allowance for that too!

I don’t quite know if like Roasalind in the play, Maria G has plans to flee persecution, but I love the play for its many melancholy speeches the favourite of them all being:
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts……”

This opening, ties in neatly with Vedanta which propounds exactly this as a philosophy. This also ties in with my earlier post When Are You Leaving? Vedanta names Truth as The Witness that is simply Consciousness and everything that we see is illusion. Realisation by internalisation of this is liberation, moksha, nirvana etc. I like it very much thank you.

I have always suspected that Shakespeare was a Vedantin. In fact, there is a story in our part of the world that says that he was originally Shaakeppa Iyer who decided to travel West, and in Persia became Shaikh Peer and eventually found his way to England where the transformation was complete.

And let us see what my favourite philosopher has to say about this great play. Please click on the image to enlarge it for easier reading.

Democracy II

Ursula in her comment at my earlier post Democracy, had this to ask.

“Seriously: What do you suggest? Unless you are willing to hand me the scepter. Then we’ll have paradise on earth. I will rule the world and we’ll all live happily ever after: Snakes being turned away at the gate. Fancy being consort or at least adviser to Her Ruling Mighty Highness? I myself had worse job offers.”

I can’t resist the temptation to put this cartoon down here.
What do I suggest? I wish that I had an answer to that, that would make sense in today’s world. There is only one answer and that is to make democracy work as it is supposed to work. Wikipedia does a reasonably good job of defining that;

“Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Democracy allows eligible citizens to participate equally—either directly or through elected representatives—in the proposal, development, and creation of laws. It encompasses social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination.”

A pipe dream dear Ursula.

Serenity.

Please click on the image to enlarge it. It is worth the trouble.