Direct Connect

The development of technology has made things easier yet we encounter difficulties. Transport systems are getting better and it is easier to travel and meet friends… yet we do not meet them as easily because we put off actually going to meet them. We feel that we can easily do it some other time and we put it off. Earlier, when travelling was difficult, we would put the extra effort in planning and putting the plan into action.

When telephones were a rare luxury, people would travel distances to connect with each other. And if they could not travel, they would communicate through letters by postal service. Now, since we have excellent communication facilities at our service, we know that it is easy to call anyone at any time… and hence we put off making that call or sending that email.

However, far worse is when we choose to stay away even when in close proximity.
In this era of the Internet, two colleagues sitting next to each other, choose to share jokes (and laughter) through e-mail, rather than turn their chairs to face each other and enjoy the joke. Technology is becoming the bane for personal connections.

A philosopher lamented, ‘Human relations have become a luxury’. We must use technology to improve communication, and not to create distance. Connecting directly strengthens bonding in relationships. We are humans, not machines. It is our instinct as well as our need to be touched by direct communication. Hence, we must step out of the technology trap and choose direct connections.

People love that human touch: a friendly pat on the back, a handwritten note, the gift of time! People will forget what you said... people will forget what you did... but people will never forget how you made them feel. When we can connect directly, why shouldn’t we? Of course, we can use technology to facilitate more direct connections…

Not a trap, technology should be a tool…
Surely direct connections are truly cool!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

STEADY SILENCE

Four Zen monks decided to observe a week of silence and meditation. However on the very first night, seeing the oil lamps grow dim, one of them blurted out, ‘the lamps require oil!’ Instantly his neighbour remarked, ‘We are not supposed to speak!’ The third friend was livid, ‘You idiots, why are you talking?’ The fourth person calmly commented, ‘I am the only one who has not spoken.’

Though the greatest ordeal for a person who can talk is to keep silent, silence in social interaction is not too difficult if we are disinterested in prolonging dialogue or if we are listening by choice. Also, we are easily forced into silence if we are in a situation of weakness due to our actions, circumstances or a submissive attitude. But the litmus test is if we fail to honour our own resolve to keep silent.

In the Zen fable, while one monk cannot resist reacting to the dying lamps, the others cannot resist commenting upon somebody else’s actions. The first could have silently lit the lamp. The rest fell prey to the temptation of being judgemental. Indeed, all four of them were too full of themselves and hence they broke their silence.

Nevertheless, selfish silence is not welcome. Silence should not result in turning a deaf ear or a blind eye or be an excuse for being indifferent or insensitive. Instead, we must use the power of silence to listen… to introspect… to process ideas… to clarify thoughts… to understand ourselves as well as others. Above all, we must guard our silence from the pitfalls of being judgementally reactive.

Our sensitivity should be wilfully proactive
May our silence be steady and not reactive!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Nature

A Zen story tells the tale of two monks washing their bowls in the river when they notice a scorpion drowning. One monk immediately scooped it up and set it upon the bank. In the process he was stung. He went back to washing his bowl and again the scorpion fell in. The monk saved the scorpion and was again stung.

The other monk asked him, ‘Friend, why do you continue to save the scorpion when you know its nature is to sting?’ The monk replied, ‘because to save it is my nature.’

The monk did not prejudice the scorpion for its nature being hurtful to him. He was adhering to a higher principle of saving a life. And to remain consistent with his lofty nature, he was ready to endure the sting as the price for sticking to his nature.

Experience may show us what is good for us or what is bad. But it is up to us to stay consistent to our declared nature despite the burden of experience. We often must do things that we know may cause us harm, because to not do so, would eventually cause us the most harm. For the greatest lure is to feel true and pure!

Do as per your lofty nature…
Choose to feel true and pure!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Fake Research

Many streams of education use the empowering tool of research projects, based on internship during vacations. However, during the presentation, we find that some students have no real experience and they have relied on the internet to compile their projects. The modus operandi is identified through irrelevant and erroneous information. Obviously, they have lost out on real learning.

Such students focus on the end assignment rather than on the learning experience. They deny themselves the joy of true research where one embarks on a journey to explore and discover newer facts and realities. Research based on direct experience yields the fruit of fresh knowledge and competency. And fake research leads to a fake image which can be stripped bare anytime.

So often, so many of us make presentations on social media as if we are experts on the topic. We pretend to have involved in deep research, when we are just ‘copy-paste’ artists. We propound and assert our fake research, which is obviously not based on any real understanding. We take the first set of information as the truth and flaunt it as our knowledge based on considerable study.

Albert Einstein said, ‘Information is not knowledge’. We must learn to sift facts from non-facts in the information we receive. We must choose and develop the true spirit of inquiry and investigation. Most importantly, we must not be lured by the approval of our claims by those may blindly believe that we are sincere. Sooner or later, we will stand exposed. And we will have denied the joys of true research.

It is good to involve in research of things that interest us… health, history, cuisine, etc. The internet and books provide for referencing but not in a fleeting form. We have to read wide and deep to escape the falsehoods and discover the truth. And real experience must be the base of such research. Otherwise we will be silly pretenders posing as expert researchers!

If interested in learning, get off the comfort perch…
Explore the information and escape fake research!
- Pravin K. Sabnis

Rote Not!

Max Wertheimer would tell this story: A school inspector was impressed by the children that he had observed, but decided to ask one more question before departing, ‘How many hairs does a horse have?’ A student answered ‘3,571,962’. ‘How do you know that your answer is correct?’ asked the inspector. ‘You can count them yourself’, answered the boy.

The inspector broke into laughter and vowed to tell the story to his colleagues back in office. When the inspector returned the following year for his annual visit, the teacher asked him how his colleagues responded to the story. Mournfully he replied, ‘I wanted very much to tell the story but I couldn't. For the life of me, I couldn't remember how many hairs the boy had said the horse had.’

Wertheimer contrasts Rote memorization with problem solving based on Gestalt principles. In the former, the learner has learned facts without understanding them. Such learning is rigid and acting upon memorized facts without understanding them, makes us prone to silly mistakes.

Learning in accordance with the Gestalt principles, however, is based on understanding the underlying principles of the problem. This type of learning comes from within the individual and is not imposed on by someone else. It is easily generalizable and is remembered for a long time.

So often, so many of us are doing things by rote, without understanding the real situation. Human beings are turning mechanical apes that pause at the surface of observation and imitate without imbibing the truth. We should instead choose to delve deeper into the understanding of the situation before us. Then we shall be able to connect truly with the inspiration.

Deeper understanding is akin to the right foot…
Skip silly mistakes that thrive on the Rote route!
- Pravin K. Sabnis