Sunday 30 November 2014

Book Review: The Road Less Travelled

Hi,

Prof Scot peck was an American professor and psychiatrist who died in 2005 and I just finished reading his most famous book  ‘The road less traveled' which  deals with an in depth analysis of the most astonishing element of human life which is LOVE . Well before that , let me bring in few of the key concepts that he explains .

In the first chapter he describes the culture of discipline which an individual needs to bring up in his/her life as a personal quality. For this we need to  master  four skills. Firstly the skill of delaying gratification. This is an attitude of scheduling our pain and pleasure, such that you accept the pain first to know the value of pleasure. Isn't it true?  Haven't we experienced pleasure in the backdrop of pain. For example when we have the pleasure of a good family or a good relationship, we are unaware of the pain that we will have if  we don’t have it.  So on the  reverse ,  first we should  undergo a process of pain , of not being in a good relationship and then understand its  value   . Prof Scott says that if you have an attitude of delaying your gratification or if life gives you pain in the beginning, you enjoy the pleasure later by knowing its value. 

The second skill is in developing an attitude of owing up or what he calls as taking responsibility. We have all blamed somebody else or the  circumstance for our  painful situation. Have we taken responsibility to the circumstance which gave us pain  .  We need to build up an attitude where we first blame our self  for a painful event, and not blame another individual for its cause. 

The third skill is on our ability for dedication to reality.  Our view of reality is like a map to negotiate the terrain of life. If we set our reality perfectly, then we reach the destination. This is nothing but   self-acceptance and clarity on what we really are , beyond those masks that you wear in your work place or even at your home. In a society filled with a show off culture,  this is an important skill,  to be learned. 

The fourth skill is balancing which is our ability to look at our ups and downs with composure. No elation of your emotions when you are in pleasure and no depression during pain. ( This quality echoes verse 38 in chapter 2 of the Bhagwat Gita, which reads  sukhaduhkhe same krtva labhalabhao jayaajaya;  ( look at pain and pleasure with equanimity) and in verse 15 ,where it says  sama dukha sukhaam deeram  ( the brave looks at pleasure and pain equally)).

Prof Scott concludes his chapter on discipline by asking us to  develop these four skills and  face any challenge in life. His second section is on love where he critically analyses the feeling of  love, contrary  to the way we have considered it to be . For Prof Scott LOVE IS ANY THOUGHT,GESTURE OR DEED which will result in progress in  the life of the person whom we love . When I say I love my child, I mean I am in a continues process of thinking and doing for the child’s material and spiritual progress. The same applies when you say that I love my friend or my nation.


He says that love is not just a feeling but commitment and the exercise of wisdom in a relationship. To quote from the book ‘’ genuine love is a self-replenishing activity as it enlarges the self rather than diminishing it and is  a process of judicious  giving and judicious  taking ’’  Note the word judicious which means making judgement  with wisdom. This tempts me to quote  Swamy Chinmayananda who’s central theme of talk in his Gita discourses were  on ‘’ developing the faculty of intellect without being misled by emotions and feelings ‘’ -a hard fact indeed-. Exercising  this intellect is what Prof Scott means by being judicious.


Having said what love is, he goes on to define what love is not. He says falling in love is just a misnomer and this experience is nothing but a sex-linked erotic experience where there is  breaking up of our ego boundaries which is nothing but a naturally induced brain effect and not love. So he questions the whole western phraseology of making love and goes on to say that this experience does not last long but results in rebuilding of the ego boundaries eventually making you falling out of love. Here  he breaks the myth of romantic love. 

Prof Scott has also touched upon the fact that love is also not dependency. To quote him ‘’ Two people love each other when they are quite capable of living without each other but choose to live with each other’’, He says passive dependency in a loving relationship is a disorder and is the cause of many Psycho somatic disorders.

Through this book Peter Scott have made an in depth analysis on the practicality of Love, relationships and personalities and it is indeed one of the best books that I had read recently. Needless to say the book is still a ten million copy bestseller.

Sanyasi 

Saturday 15 November 2014

Book Review: The Quest for Identity in 21st century:


hello

The book I just finished reading was Susan Greenfield's pioneering book named ‘’ The Quest for identity in the 21st Century.’ One among the  key points that she addresses is on the pervasive nature of the new age technologies, and the impact of the two dimensional world of cyberspace on human lives. The sensory experience from the cyber world is affecting the neural networks of our brain functioning,  changing the way we think and behave . The development of a culture of instant gratification among the new generation is one such attribute of this change.

The subsequent chapters are on the functioning of the brain and the analogy of the brain’s synaptic functioning to human relationship and societies. She argues that mind is a construct of the brain and is an identity created by it from the interplay of various electro chemical agents called neurotransmitters. She explains on the neural networking which gives us the sensation of love, hatred and other emotions, and the way modern day drugs play a pivotal role in modulating these networks, in particularly on serotonin and dopa mine, the vital neurotransmitters which control our feelings and well being

Another area of discourse is on the emerging threat of neuro degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson disease. While explaining the chemistry and pharmacology of these diseases the author is vary of the consequence of these diseases on human life and the need to develop technologies which can arrest such neuro-degeneration .

In addition she touches upon the concept of plasticity of the brain which is called long term potentiation (LTP) , where synapses reacts to the repetitive environment , beliefs and practices and mutes  its neural networks accordingly . It helps us heal from prayers, change our mind set and manage pain. The music that you hear, relationship which you nurture and the way you think and live is managed by a series of neural activation.

 She also touches upon creativity and brain chemistry, citing the example of VanGog the insane painter who cut his own ears. People with psychic disorders like Schizophrenia which is induced by excessive dopamine in certain regions of the brain and that of major depression which is caused by serotonin deficiency,  shows a higher level of  creative thinking . In fact most of the creative thinkers and scientists have had episodes of depressive disorders.


This pioneering book  brings into focus the need for mankind to prepare for a change induced by the interplay of the brain and the environment, and set the tone  for the new ‘evolution’ of the human race.

Sanyasi