A story that started with a volcano...

Mt. Rainier is one of the 16 decade volcanoes of the world. It is near Seattle (Washington) where I live. Here's how my story began. It was a sunny Sunday morning, a rare day in Seattle! Suddenly I had a strong feeling that Mt. Rainier's volcano had erupted. I went to roof in a hurry and realized that nothing had happened. Yes, I can see Mt. Rainier's outline from the roof of my apartment building. Just at the end of the street, a fountain on the roof top of another building suddenly started. And at the next instant I could see a big blast of angry red volcano along the same direction far away... Mt. Rainier had suddenly erupted. Red Molten rocks and ashes flew into the air. I could experience everything  like I was standing much closer to the site than I actually was. How could this have happened? How did I know this before it happened? I was at first amazed at the sight, but that was short lived. Fear had crept in. I ran downstairs. I informed my family, and we decided to leave immediately. Suddenly some irritating noise started bugging me. It was as if everything else did not matter. Someone should really stop this noise. My mind entered my body. It was my alarm clock. It was just a dream, I thought disappointingly. The visual appearance of that event had somehow brought me alive. The fear had made me aware about my existence. Existence not as in an entity in the society, but as a life-form.
I shared this dream with my neighbor while we were washing our cars in the basement parking. We decided to go and watch the silent Mountain from the terrace. To our surprise, there was chaos around the city. My heart started to beat rapidly. Next scene left me startled. Suddenly Mt. Rainier had exploded, not unlike 20 years ago how Mt. Helens had exploded. It was as if a huge bomb had exploded. Me and my neighbor looked at each other in disbelief. I ran downstairs to inform my family. Everyone decided that it would be best to get away from the city for now. Holding back emotions as we were looking at each other and bidding farewell to our home. It would be destroyed, along with the entire city, I thought. We stepped outside the apartment. Molten rocks and ashes were raining from the sky. I got my car out of the parking lot when I realized that my grandmother had not come yet. I went back in to get her and found that she did not want to come. I persuaded her to forget about the house. I felt tears coming out of my eyes when I was trying to convince her. She agreed and we came out of the apartment. I opened my eyes again. It had so happened that I had slept again after turning off the alarm, thinking about the meaning of the dream. I had been thrown back in the same dream world and the second dream was essentially a continuation of the first. And ofcourse it was a dream, my family is back in India! But, it seemed just as real as all our dreams do. I got up and sat on my bed feeling very sleepy. Then I thought about what I had dreamt and slowly I started remembering everything. Just by thinking about it made me feel rejuvenated. That's what dreams do to me. When and if I remember them, I feel good about myself. The most loved ones involve floods in my home town, and the one with alien attack! Yes, I dream crazy things. In reality, these are catastrophic events. But in my dreams, these event do not represent fatalities. They just make me feel alive.

Agnostic ?

Recently I was having discussion with couple of my friends about what could be the actual form of God. During the discussion I realized many things that I had never given thought to before. I have an image of God which is deep rooted within me. I see God as positive energy and the calmness I feel within me. But it is also accompanied by a feeling of "univesal oneness". "Universal Oneness" is a term that I have come up with to describe combination of security, happiness, and completeness. It gives me immense strength so that I can live each moment in a way that I dont regret it.

Then the train of thought led me to thinking how the life of people would have been some 2000 years ago... (As the pandavlena caves in Nashik are of the same time).  People in that era would have definately been wonderful examples of having experienced "Universal Oneness". And they might have had better knowledge of "The Self". This is something missing from our lives these days. We are so busy in improving ourselfs (or our lives) that we dont realise that we should not run behind the happiness or the material gain but we should look within ourselves and find the true reason of our existence... and to live our passions and forget about the material gains associated with it... It is easy said than done, I know. I will really try to live this way one day ! :)

Getting back to the point of discussion, I myself am 100% believer of God. I know and respect the fact that many people have their own idols and have their own beliefs, and so do I, but I think that eventually each leads to "Universal Oneness" !

Clash of the Titans

Recently I saw a question on internet comparing the mights of Genghis Khan and Chandragupta Maurya. My first reaction was in the favor of the Mongolian ruler, as he had conquered much of the Asia and was known to be a fierce battler, whereas the mighty Chandragupta Maurya had majority of Indian subcontinent... So by a naive conclusion I decided Genghis Khan as the answer...Then, out of interest and availability of a lot of free time, I started Googling about it...

Genghis Khan was a ruler in 13th Century AD, whereas Chandragupta Maurya reigned around 300 BC... So, there is a gap of around 1600 Years between the two empires... Also Chandragupta Maurya had defeated the then Seleucid empire (currently Iran and Iraq).. But the Seleucid emperor offered her daughter in a marriage proposal to Chandragupta as a token of friendship, which was accepted by Chandragupta. So if we tend to think relatively, Chandragupta Maurya's empire area in 300 BC is very impressive...

Population wise the Mauryan empire consisted of 35% of the world population at its time, whereas Mongolian empire had 25% of the world population at its time... So, in terms of administration, Mauryan empire was more complex than the Mongolian empire...

Chandragupta Maurya defeated the Nanda's and became king when he was 20, and ruled for 22 Years. On the other hand Genghis Khan became king at the age of 44 and reigned for 21 Years. Also, Chandragupta Maurya is credited with bringing together the small fragmented kingdoms of the country and combining them into a single large empire, The First empire of India. 

With this data set, I shrewdly concluded that Chandragupta Maurya was a better administrator, better attacker and a better king...

Society...

Are there more qualities in us humans then we have come to known? The answer lies within ourselves... there are many desires in a human mind. everyone of us seek wealth, power, etc. It is the extent of desire that matters. The ultimate goal is happiness. The above things are raw materials for enjoying life, and are not themselves the final product... so, these are important but, are they to be given more importance than attainment of knowledge, wisdom, peace, compassion? What is the purpose of our existence? What is the true significance of our powerful mind? It is the quest for finding answers. Answers to the questions which have been asked from generations to generations.

I thrive to see a society where everyone takes the role and responsibility of a leader and of a local garbage collector. For this, only one quality is required in every individual - satisfaction of what one is and what one has. The society will then be an ideal society. No hidden intentions, no wickedness, no anger. In Hindu literature, these negative qualities are called "tamas" and the person who possesses it is said to have "tamasic vrutti". One should set oneself free of these negative qualities. There should just be celebration of life. Each moment should be savored and something productive should be done.

Then again this is an ideal scenario and such a revolution in the society is very difficult to ignite and sustain... But society is an ocean in which each human is a water droplet. If color of water droplets changes, there is a definite change in the color of ocean... So if majority of us move towards the enlightenment, our society will change...