Tri-yuga's Journal

Is there such a thing as an Absolute culture? What do you think?

triyuga@gmail.com — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 03:49:00 GMT

The idea of the existence of an Absolute culture is proposed in opposition to the idea that all cultures are relative, or in other words, that all cultures arise due to people adapting to their environment, and then evolve over subsequent generations.

As a further clarification, ‘culture’ maybe defined as the traditional manner and form in which a certain group of people carry out the activities of life. For example, eating is a universal activity – everybody eats, but culture determines HOW a group of people will eat – i.e. with chop-sticks (Chinese), knives and folks (European) or with hands (Indian) etc. Another example is dress – everyone wears something to shield their body from the elements, but culture will determine the STYLE of that dress – i.e. suit and tie (European), or saris, dhoti and kurta (Indian), or kimono (Japanese), or fur coat (Eskimo), burka (Muslim), etc…

This question as to existence of an Absolute culture comes to mind and is important to clarify because certain philosophies would seem to suggest that, yes, there must be an Absolute culture, while others would suggest not.

For example, in philosophies that feature a Personal God Being with personal likes and dislikes and a will as to how the activities life should be performed, it would seem to follow that there must be a God ordained culture, or in other words, a specific way that the God Being prefers things to be done, right down to everyday things such as eating, dressing, language, music, manners, so on and so forth. Since in such a philosophy God can be defined as “He whose will defines reality”, such a God-ordained culture maybe termed ‘the Absolute culture’ (this culture then becomes the culture of the commonly conceived ‘kingdom of God’ that the devoted believer hopes to attain after-death). In such an instance the ‘Absolute culture’ would stand out as elite and divine, all other culture being nothing more than the relative contrivance of mortals.

Philosophies not centred around the concept of a personal God Being as the cause and sustenance of existence, would seem to suggest that all culture has non-divine origins. One common alternative understanding is that all cultures arise out of people adapting to their environment, and then evolve over subsequent generations, gradually growing in complexity and becoming ingrained as vehicles of social identity and the basis of many moral judgements. In this instance, any given culture maybe viewed as relative, flexible and evolving, no part being inherently sacred.

So, what do you think? Is my reasoning sound?
Is there an Absolute culture?

Interesting Philosophical Discussion

triyuga@gmail.com — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:36:00 GMT

I have been having an interesting discussion on another Internet forum around the question:

"beyond the subjective projections of a mind steeped in the training of faith, what tangible evidence is there to demonstrate the personal reciprocation of an omniscient God Being with the living entities in this world of cause and effect?"

I would like to share this discussion here and invite further input from learned thinkers. I will give each person currently involved in the discussion an invented name to preserve their anonymity.

JILL - What kinds of things are you prepared to accept as "tangible evidence"?

ME - something empirical, that does not have a more plausible material cause and effect explanation...

FRED - sn't it a bit contradictory asking for objective, empirical evidence for something that is by nature subjective? You can't ask for physical evidence of the metaphysical. That's a complete contradiction. Furthermore, since there is no real explanation of consciousness based on material cause and effect which is very convincing, how can you expect an empirical explanation for something that is based 100% on interactions of two conscious entities? This is a rather anti-philosophical question if you ask me.

ME (TO FRED) - Basically you are saying, albeit in a superior and condescending tone, that there is no such evidence and one should not expect it? Fair enough, your logic is sound.

In my experience the mind has a powerful tendency to interpret subjective experiences according to preconceived and wishful notions about the structure of reality, and thus 'read into' events/experience causes that maybe, in fact, entirely imagined. I am assuming the other minds behave in a similar fashion.

So I guess the crux of my question is:

"how is one to know that his/her faith experience is in fact real and not just a wishful, but nonetheless imaginative, interpretation of events born of religious mental conditioning?"

Despite your poo-poo-ing, I think these are important questions, as it is not uncommon for people to pray and request God to favorably intercede in the material cause and effect of their lives and to testify that He has done so. I think it is important to analyze on what grounds such testimonials maybe taken as respectable evidence as to the existence and, more to the point, intervention of a personal God.

BTW this is not an attack but an interested inquiry (don't feel obliged to adopt a war-like tone).

FRED - No, strictly speaking, I'm not saying that there is no evidence, and one should not expect it. I'm saying that there is no empirical evidence, objective evidence. Who is to say that that is the only evidence which holds value? That is simply a value judgment based on a pre-accepted knowledge system.

I would personally argue against the existence of objective experiences. I would also apply you argument, that the mind may read into every experience or event some cause that may in fact be imaginary, into every possible experience or event.

I agree, the issue of epistemology is certainly important for any knowledge system, and I definitely think that there is a pretty solid philosophical basis for a theistic epistemology. For example, I do not think that the 9 qualities of a devotee on the platform of bhava, as described in the Nectar of Devotion, can really be artificially reproduced, nor really explained outside of a theistic science.

Oh and BTW - any trace of a warlike tone is unintended :)

ME (TO FRED) - I would tend to side with your argument against the existence of objective experiences, for the possibility of their existence would seem contingent on the existence of 'non-subjective consciousness' which in itself would seem an impossible oxymoron.

    I also agree that the acknowledged tendency of the mind to colour every experience according to it's conceptual conditioning is universal, applying equally to religious, empiric, and everyday pursuits.

    The point I am really attempting to drill down on is this one:

"how is one to know that his/her faith experience is in fact real and not just a wishful, but nonetheless imaginative, interpretation of events born of religious mental conditioning?"

You see, many people claim to have had faith experiences and or testify as to having experienced sensations indicating to them of the presence of God. It is based on these that they assert absolute certainty in the existence of a Personal God of their particular cultural predilection.

Now, speaking honestly, I cannot personally claim to have had any experiences at all that I can be ABSOLUTELY certain of and thus I admit that I become intrigued/suspicious when hear anyone assert that they have.

- My first suspicion when I encounter someone making an assertion of absolute certainty in an experience is that perhaps they have not sufficiently analyzed the nature of being and the unconscious imaginative power of their own mind as to really know what they are talking about.

- My second suspicion would be that they have consciously, yet artificially, adopted an outward pose of Absolute certainty in order to perform the function of reinforcing the doubt-assailed-faith of a 'flock' whom they lead.

- My third suspicion is that they have constructed such a rigorous daily regimen of self-indoctrination for themselves as to fill every vacant mental space with doctrine and thus forcibly 'crowd out' any doubt that might otherwise arise.

Of course, despite all these doubts that arise within me, I cannot help but wonder that perhaps there is in fact a personal God Being who does, from time to time, interact with certain selected individuals within this world in a way that is somehow impossible for them to doubt.

Wondering thus I look in the world for such a person certain experience, yet upon questioning persona after person I discover that everyones faith seems to be leaning on everyone else's. So I seek further, trying to identify the solid substance upon which everyones faith is ultimately leaning. At this point I am pointed toward a Holy Book, or the glorified example of some dead saint who is, inconveniently enough, unavailable for personal questioning and consultation.

So, picking up the Holy Books I soon discover that they are making all manner of mysterious claims, speaking of many things that can be neither confirmed or denied, yet that often seem highly implausible while remain unassailable to certain invalidation, being well guarded by all sorts of superstitious threats, disempowering character judgements and possible 'metaphysical explanations' that are, inconveniently enough, outside of our earthly experience and thus ability to verify.

So it is, in sincere wonderment, that I bring this discussion to my fellow people of the world for collaborative discussion. Can anyone help me?

BOB - Indoctrinated perception of any kind is not evidence, just the desperate attempt to make the vast emptiness, complexity and uncertainty of reality more user pleasing.

PETER (TO EVERYONE) - Every single person alive in this world has been indoctrinated to something.
Commonly:
The indoctrination that sex will bring happiness
The indoctrination that economic growth is vital
The indoctrination that material items will bring happiness...
The indoctrination that the body constitutes the self
The indoctrination that university is the highest education
The indoctrination that beauty brings happiness
The indoctrination that fame brings happiness
The indoctrination that money brings happiness
The indoctrination that a good career will bring happiness
The indoctrination that we can laud over material nature as we like
The indoctrination that scientists understand the nature of the universe.
The indoctrination that we can understand the nature of the universe by dint of our mental speculation.

No one is spared indoctrination.

BOB (TO PETER) - How poetic Peter, also true but still doesn't change the fact.

PETER (TO BOB) - Ok but if you have enough people repeating your testimony to a "vast emptiness, complexity and uncertainty of reality" then I think we have the beginning of another strand of indoctrination on the go or is this one already existing? Dear oh dear.

You can't escape indoctrination, the trick is to choose wisely. :)

ME (TO PETER) - I think you are right Peter, in a way, that everyone of us is conditioned to view the world in a particular way, perhaps by biological nature of our being, or perhaps by some cosmic force of subconscious programming.

Still I personally would be weary about consciously (or unconsciously!) adopting a self-indoctrination program of any sort.

I think the cultivation of a broad education and even a curious experimentation with the conceptual framework of our subjective experience are healthy pursuits.

BUT! to adopt a fixed concept of reality and resolve to have faith in it come hell or high-water seems somehow premature...

Shouldn't we rather be honest about the limits of our EXPERIENCE of the truth of any particular doctrine?

I think there is a danger that we can become so determined to believe in a doctrine that we forget to acknowledge that we are not actually able to do so due to the incompleteness of verifying experience. What do you think?

SARA (TO EVERYONE) - "Your existence can be inferred from the necessity for a creator and revealer of all cosmic manifestations. But although Your devotees can understand You in this way, to the nondevotees You remain silent, absorbed in self-satisfaction." (Spoken by the wives of the Kaliya serpent, in their prayers to Krishna, SB 10.16.47)

The devotee perceives evidence of Krishna everywhere and in everything. But Krishna is hidden from others. Earlier in the same section of SB, the wives describe Krishna as the basis of our perception and consciousness. I´d recommend reading those prayers, starting from 10.16.33. It won´t satisfy any desire for faithless evidence of God, but that´s kinda the point of it.

This, by the way, is why I think that Intelligent Design will never convince any atheists and won´t help the faithful much either. Someone would first have to become a devotee to see evidence of God, and then they will see God everywhere (with eyes of love), so there is still no need for ID.

ME (TO SARA) - I enjoyed the poetic beauty of your comment and quote, which reminded me of the elegance of the Vaisnava conceptions of the God Being who is so absorbed in the bliss of interacting with His pure-hearted devotees, that He becomes almost forgetful of the conditioned souls who are absorbed in the doomed tasks of trying to fulfill their ego-projections. And it is only when a soul conditioned in the world of matter makes a sufficiently sincere and sustained cry for mercy displayed in love and service that the happily self-satisfied God Being acts to establish personal and undoubtable contact with such an individual.

It is a fantastic idea, but can it be verified, or is everyone just chasing a poetic dream? This is my doubt.

RACHEL - A Beautiful Mind.

ME (TO RACHEL) - At first glance your sutra-like answer is rather charming, Rachel.

Yet if we take good/beautiful character as evidence of inner communion with God, how are we to explain the appearance of good character in people whose philosophical disposition does not include belief in a personal God?

RACHEL (TO ME) - Those souls may need time in this life or another to realise who they are and what they know.

ME (TO RACHEL) - Can you explain a bit more what you mean?

JENNY (TO EVERYONE) - can I find the answer if I flip to the back of the book?...

ME (TO JENNY) - Haha, unfortunately it's not that easy...

Kirtan Download! Sita-pati - Atma Yoga Anthem Kirtan!

triyuga@gmail.com — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:53:00 GMT

It's a classic:

Sita-pati - Atma Yoga Anthem Kirtan!.MP3

visit upload site here.

Kirtan Download! Sita-pati - Urban Yoga Bengali Groove!

triyuga@gmail.com — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:30:00 GMT

Sita Pati rocks out at Urban Yoga, Thursday Nov 15th 2007. This was an awesome night! Click here to read a past blog entry about it.

Click the track name below to download MP3 recording:

Sita-pati - Urban Yoga Bengali Groove!.MP3

or visit the upload site here.

Sweet Hill Fest! at the Loft Auckland, NZ.

triyuga@gmail.com — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:40:00 GMT

World Vegan Day at the Loft, AKL NZ

triyuga@gmail.com — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:06:00 GMT

"We don haffi kill fi eat!"

Burj Dubai: She's a Whoppa!

triyuga@gmail.com — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 05:47:00 GMT

Check this out!

Rising like a colossal finger of concrete, steel and glass out of the desert city of Dubai, this thing is truly MASSIVE! It already clocks in as the tallest building in the world, and it is not even finished. When it's complete it will be 800m high.

All glories to the victorious march of the human enterprise!

Interview with Pratapana prabhu! – Dynamic KC preaching in Sydney, Australia!

triyuga@gmail.com — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:49:00 GMT

Pratapana prabhu, along with his family, owns and directs the well-known Govinda’s Restaurant and Movie Room complex in Sydney Australia, which includes the Lotus Room (yoga and kirtan studio) and Lotus Pod (fashion and gift boutique).

In this interview, recorded in the lounge of his Darlinghurst home, Pratapana prabhu speaks about the strategy behind the cutting edge preaching work that is going on under his guidance.

Topics he speaks on include the very wonderful Kirtan Yoga evenings at the Lotus Room, the successful Bhagavad Gita study course he conducts in his home, and more.

Click on this link to listen or download:

Interview with Pratapana on Sydney KC Preaching.mp3

File is archived here: http://www.archive.org/details/HareKrishnaPreachingInSydney2008-InterviewWithPratapana

Websites mentioned in this interview:

www.govindas.com.au

www.govindavalley.com.au

Devamrita Swami - The Yoga of Greed - 31st Aug

triyuga@gmail.com — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:26:00 GMT

Auckland, New Zealand.

Offering to Srila Prabhupada, 2008

triyuga@gmail.com — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:10:00 GMT

Dear Srila Prabhupada,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

You have had an undeniably huge effect on my life. I first came into contact with your teachings and your followers 8 years ago, when I was 19 years old and desperately seeking meaning, purpose and direction in life. Your teachings dived in and grappled with the deepest issues of life: mortality, suffering, self, god, and our existential function at the deepest level. Your no-holds-barred analysis of the problems facing contemporary society shocked me awake and inspired me to adopt a positive alternative. That alternative you also provided – a complete model of reality replete with specific and detailed living styles for every phase of human development.

You emphasised the quest for purity of heart and selfless dedication of all our energies as offerings of love to the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the means for attaining perfect existential fulfilment. The elegance and simplicity of these teachings and the promise they embodied moved me at a deep level and I resolved very early on in my contact with your teachings to attempt their application in my own life.

Srila Prabhupada – your legacy is extra-ordinary – you delivered the essence of an ancient tradition to a world society that has drifted so far from it’s spiritual purpose. You established a clear set of teachings and a method of systematic application, leaving no field of human life untouched. And, as your greatest gift, you gave your own powerful example of intense conviction in the teachings of the Gaudiya Vaisnava parampara that to this day carries many of your followers beyond the brink where logic and reason fail and into the realms where faith and love preside, where personal revelation alone is the currency of conviction.

Your teachings are so clear and essential. You take the seemingly infinitely complex network of cause and effect that is this material world, indicate the essential realities, and extract and highlight an ultimate purpose to everything. You do this with such personal conviction that at my first encounter I felt certain that my own success would a sure thing. Of course, in time I have come to more deeply recognize the magnitude of my conditioned predicament, and the limits of my sinscere desire for transcendence.

My prayer to you on this day is to reveal to me the path onward into the future of my own spiritual life. I stand at the brink of faith, uncertain how to proceed. My limited, conditioned intelligence cannot deliver me realisation of the transcendental reality of Krishna’s personal existence, or rationalise the many inconceivable aspects of Sastra.

Genuine faith is more than a decision to put aside doubt.

You teach that as we cannot accept half a hen, we cannot accept half the Vedic presentation.

Please help me accommodate those aspects of Sastra that elude and frustrate my conditioned understanding, and to thus assist me to move forward with conviction into the bliss and freedom of dedication to devotional service.

Your servant, Tri-yuga das

Faith, Doubt and the Spiritual Master

triyuga@gmail.com — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 04:11:00 GMT

It is amazing the way Sastric readings often seem to hit on questions that are currently moving in the mind. Yesterday my reading brought me to a series of verses discussing a predicament of conditioned existence that I have been seriously contemplating of late.

Below are excepts from the section of Srimad Bhagavatam that I read. The quoted verse begins "Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must..." The verses that lead into this verse discuss the futility of all kinds of pursuits aimed at achieving happiness within the material world (karma) and liberation by means of speculative intellectualism (jnana). Having established this, the present verse proceeds to offer the solution to the predicament:

SB 11:3:21

Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that he has realized the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters.

Here are some excerpts from the purport that really struck me:

"…Within the material world one is certainly attracted to becoming a great intellectual, a powerful politician, the loving father of many beautiful and affectionate little children, a most honoured welfare worker or a highly admired and successful businessman. But none of these material positions have a permanent basis, nor do they afford permanent happiness, because they are all based on the primary misunderstanding by which one identifies himself with the material body…"

"..."Those who are not faithful on the path of devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of foes, but return to birth and death in this material world." Therefore the spiritual master must awaken the disciple to the eternal existence of devotional service..."

"...If the disciple has doubts about the value of Krishna consciousness, the bona fide spiritual master must dissipate those doubts by superior knowledge. One who himself doubts the authority of Krishna or Vedic knowledge cannot become a bona fide spiritual master..."

"..."One should know the Acarya to be My self and never disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the demigods." (SB 11.17.27) According to Srila Vishvanatha Chakravati Thakura, if a spiritual master cannot destroy his disciple's doubts by superior knowledge, the disciple will gradually become despondent in spiritual life. Because a bogus guru cannot actually give Krishna to the disciple according to the principle of rasa-varja raso 'py asya, the disciple will again become attracted to material happiness, not having achieved the bliss of Krishna's association. Such a weak disciple of a weak spiritual master will gradually become hopeless and discouraged in his attempt at self-realization and will again become fascinated by the temptations of illusion, such as women, money and so-called intellectuality based on speculation and imagination..."

Recent Travels, and a little war...

triyuga@gmail.com — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 07:00:00 GMT

I left Melbourne just under a week ago, after a 2 year stay in the Melbourne Temple men's ashram. Currently I am in Brisbane, staying with Sita Pati, his wife Param Satya, and their son Prahlada.

Brisbane has a wonderful climate: fine one day, perfect the next. This is a nice change from Melbourne which is notoriously changeable in its weather patterns. Although it is mid winter, it is sunny and warm here on the deck of Sita Pati's house amidst a forest of Tulasi plants.

Sita Pati and I have been attending Bikram Yoga classes daily - 90 minutes of yoga in a sauna! It is a kind of physical euphoria, and great for the body - the sweating experience is very cleansing.

Param Satya is and excellent cook, and the family diet is extraordinarily healthy - all organic and salt free. So the combined experience of Bikram Yoga, sunshine and such a healthy diet is like a kind of health retreat for me!

I have given 3 Krishna Conscious presentations since I've been here: Saturday night KrishnaFest at AtmaYoga, Sunday feast at Govinda's and Tuesday Night Bhagavad Gita class at AtmaYoga.

Sita Pati and I have also had a number of deep conversations about various things I have been thinking about over the last month. I value his friendship very deeply, and he is something of a mentor to me.

So all in all I am feeling refreshed and excited about the next chapter of my life in Auckland, New Zealand.

After Brisbane I will spend 4 days in Sydney to help Pratapana prabhu to develop the poster graphics to advertise this years Le Carnaval Spirituel Australian tour - Indradyumna Swami's travelling show. Then, on the 20th of August, I fly into Auckland.

A couple of weeks ago I bought a Flip Mino video camera, after reading about it on KrishnaGeeks.com. It is a nifty and compact unit, very simple yet effective for capturing videos for the Internet, and great in low light (Karunamayi Mataji - it is pretty good!)

I have shot a few videos and just started a YouTube account. Here is my first upload - a play battle between me and Prahlada and Atma Yoga!

Talk at Urban Yoga - Cultivating Wealth in the Inner World

triyuga@gmail.com — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:39:00 GMT

I gave the Krishna Fest presentation at Urban Yoga last night. It was an introductory style talk exploring some of the benefits of a meditation practice.

My presentation was around 25 minutes long, but the Q&A session extended for another 25 minutes.

You can download a recording of this talk by clicking the link below:

Culitvating Wealth in the Inner World.mp3

StrengthFinder 2.0: My Results

triyuga@gmail.com — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:49:00 GMT

Today I did the Strengths Finder 2.0 Test. To do this test you need to purchase the Strengths Finder book which gives you an access code to the online test. I found the test very accurate and it is helping me to determine my future focus in terms of study, career and service. I would recommend the test to anyone who wants to identify and hone their unique fields of strength for maximum effectiveness.

The test takes about half an hour and produces a ranked list of your top 5 areas of strength, along with explanations and suggestions on how to maximize and capitalise upon them.

Here are my top five themes of talent, ranked in the order revealed by my responses to the Clifton StrengthsFinder.

Ideation, Activator, Communication, Strategic, Learner

Here are the explanations of each of these categories:

Ideation

You are fascinated by ideas. What is an idea? An idea is a concept, the best explanation of the most events. You are delighted when you discover beneath the complex surface an elegantly simple concept to explain why things are the way they are. An idea is a connection. Yours is the kind of mind that is always looking for connections, and so you are intrigued when seemingly disparate phenomena can be linked by an obscure connection. An idea is a new perspective on familiar challenges. You revel in taking the world we all know and turning it around so we can view it from a strange but strangely enlightening angle. You love all these ideas because they are profound, because they are novel, because they are clarifying, because they are contrary, because they are bizarre. For all these reasons you derive a jolt of energy whenever a new idea occurs to you. Others may label you creative or original or conceptual or even smart. Perhaps you are all of these. Who can be sure? What you are sure of is that ideas are thrilling. And on most days this is enough.

Activator

“When can we start?” This is a recurring question in your life. You are impatient for action. You may concede that analysis has its uses or that debate and discussion can occasionally yield some valuable insights, but deep down you know that only action is real. Only action can make things happen. Only action leads to performance. Once a decision is made, you cannot not act. Others may worry that “there are still some things we don’t know,” but this doesn’t seem to slow you. If the decision has been made to go across town, you know that the fastest way to get there is to go stoplight to stoplight. You are not going to sit around waiting until all the lights have turned green. Besides, in your view, action and thinking are not opposites. In fact, guided by your Activator theme, you believe that action is the best device for learning. You make a decision, you take action, you look at the result, and you learn. This learning informs your next action and your next. How can you grow if you have nothing to react to? Well, you believe you can’t. You must put yourself out there. You must take the next step. It is the only way to keep your thinking fresh and informed. The bottom line is this: You know you will be judged not by what you say, not by what you think, but by what you get done. This does not frighten you. It pleases you.

Communication

You like to explain, to describe, to host, to speak in public, and to write. This is your Communication theme at work. Ideas are a dry beginning. Events are static. You feel a need to bring them to life, to energize them, to make them exciting and vivid. And so you turn events into stories and practice telling them. You take the dry idea and enliven it with images and examples and metaphors. You believe that most people have a very short attention span. They are bombarded by information, but very little of it survives. You want your information—whether an idea, an event, a product’s features and benefits, a discovery, or a lesson—to survive. You want to divert their attention toward you and then capture it, lock it in. This is what drives your hunt for the perfect phrase. This is what draws you toward dramatic words and powerful word combinations. This is why people like to listen to you. Your word pictures pique their interest, sharpen their world, and inspire them to act.

Strategic

The Strategic theme enables you to sort through the clutter and find the best route. It is not a skill that can be taught. It is a distinct way of thinking, a special perspective on the world at large. This perspective allows you to see patterns where others simply see complexity. Mindful of these patterns, you play out alternative scenarios, always asking, “What if this happened? Okay, well what if this happened?” This recurring question helps you see around the next corner. There you can evaluate accurately the potential obstacles. Guided by where you see each path leading, you start to make selections. You discard the paths that lead nowhere. You discard the paths that lead straight into resistance. You discard the paths that lead into a fog of confusion. You cull and make selections until you arrive at the chosen path—your strategy. Armed with your strategy, you strike forward. This is your Strategic theme at work: “What if?” Select. Strike.

Learner

You love to learn. The subject matter that interests you most will be determined by your other themes and experiences, but whatever the subject, you will always be drawn to the process of learning. The process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you. You are energized by the steady and deliberate journey from ignorance to competence. The thrill of the first few facts, the early efforts to recite or practice what you have learned, the growing confidence of a skill mastered—this is the process that entices you. Your excitement leads you to engage in adult learning experiences—yoga or piano lessons or graduate classes. It enables you to thrive in dynamic work environments where you are asked to take on short project assignments and are expected to learn a lot about the new subject matter in a short period of time and then move on to the next one. This Learner theme does not necessarily mean that you seek to become the subject matter expert, or that you are striving for the respect that accompanies a professional or academic credential. The outcome of the learning is less significant than the “getting there.”

"As you may know, the Clifton StrengthsFinder measures the 34 themes of talent determined by The Gallup Organization as those that most consistently predict outstanding performance. The greater the presence of a theme of talent within a person, the more likely that person is to spontaneously exhibit those talents in day-to-day behaviors.

Focusing on natural talents helps people build them into strengths and enjoy personal, academic, and career success through consistent, near-perfect performance.

To learn more about your strengths and to discover your Top 5, visit http://sf2.strengthsfinder.com."

Accident Update

triyuga@gmail.com — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 02:04:00 GMT

Last week I mentioned a serious car accident I had been involved in, in which I collided with a motorcyclist. It was a shocking experience to say the least. Here is an update on the outcomes:

The motorcyclist got out of hospital 3 days later! This was very amazing to my mind, as at first I though he would die! In the final analysis he suffered a broken jaw in 2 places, a few broken ribs and a couple of cracks in his pelvis. The good news is that there is no spinal injury and no brain damage. He can move about with crutches and is forecast to be fully healed, with no long-term issues, within 6 to 12 weeks.

Discovering this has been a great relief to me.

Overall, he is more upset about his new bike been all smashed up than he is about his body! He purchased the bike only the day before...

Legally, I got a fine of $187 for not giving way. According to the cop that attended the scene, the motorcyclist got the same, as well as a fine for not having a motorcycle licence...

The temple has comprehensive insurance so the damage to the temple van is covered. I don't think the cyclist was insured, and because he was riding without a license I think his chances of being covered by our policy are very slim.

So I got off very lightly physically, legally and financially, while the motorcyclist has suffered on many fronts. It is an unfortunate situation, but at least the worst (death, brain damage or paralysis) has been avoided.

Thanks to everyone who called and emailed me with your support - I have been very touched.

Some more stats:

Motorcyclists are casually classified as 'temporary residents of Australia'...

There is a 100% accident (of some kind) rate amongst motorcyclists...

1 in 10 motorcyclists are killed or maimed....

Motorcyclists are 37 times more likely to suffer a serious road accident…