The Pulley (to satisfaction)

The Pulley
by George Herbert

When God at first made man,
Having a glass of blessings standing by,
Let us (said He) pour on him all we can:
Let the world's riches, which dispersed lie,
Contract into a span.
So strength first made a way;
Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honour, pleasure:
When almost all was out, God made a stay,
Perceiving that alone of all His treasure
Rest in the bottom lay.
For if I should (said He)
Bestow this jewel also on my creature,
He would adore My gifts instead of Me,
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature:
So both should losers be.
Yet let him keep the rest,
But keep them with repining restlessness:
Let him be rich and weary, that, at least,
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
May toss him to My breast.
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A simple poem but then this poem was the first one which ever touched my heart. So simple yet, such a profound truth hidden within it. I was spell bound when our English teacher first explained the meaning of this poem to us in our 10th standard. Such a small poem I wondered could so easily state what could be the purpose of our life.
God while creating Man, according to the poet bestowed man with various riches such as strength, wisdom, honour, beauty, etc. But God refrained from giving a final attribute i.e. satisfaction.
Imagine a world where everyone is satisfied, where there is no dearth of any kind of luxury, no pain, no suffering. Seems wonderful doesn’t it? But the more you think about it the more u realize that we wouldn’t be living in such an amazing world if it wasn’t for dissatisfaction. Why does man always strive to create something new, always dive into the realms of the unknown to snatch the truth from the clutches of darkness? The answer is simple….WE ARE NOT SATISFIED. For all humans satisfaction can be compared to the horizon. You can run towards it as fast as you want but it will always stay at the same distance and that’s the beauty of life. Not knowing something gives you a hope of a better tomorrow…….. an ever interesting tomorrow………..an infinite tomorrow.
This restlessness signifies the actual quality of mankind. If we were satisfied we would not be able to appreciate anything other than what already exists. If God had given man satisfaction, we would have ended up only appreciating the beauty of nature and other such gifts and then ended up worshipping these gifts, rather than ever trying to find out the origin of the Universe. And even if man doesn’t follow the path of righteousness, his restlessness will drive him towards the truth and it will help to find salvation one day.
In simple words we have to answer 3 questions about life to be satisfied. The 3 questions, in order of importance are “Why?”, “What?” and “How?” We have several definitions for the “What” of life. We are striving hard to find the “How” of life and this is the question we are making progress in. Unfortunately the “Why” of life is considered as a less important question and not explored as aggressively as it should. The reason of its importance can be explained by using the example of a mobile phone. We all know “What” it is, we know “How” it works. But do you think that the mobile phone would have existed if it didn’t have a purpose? In the same way we know “What” life is, we are making progress in finding “How” everything works. The only thing left to find is our purpose.
Through this poem the poet has aesthetically conveyed the message that God has provided we with everything we need to begin our journey. He/She/It has also provided us with the thirst for the answers, the restlessness required to move in the right direction..towards the truth. It is upto us to think and understand the rest for ourselves because the purpose of life is to LEARN!
So go ahead and take your first step, the truth is closer than we think.

Meaning of a "Successful life"?

We go through each day of our lives a moment at a time, yet we think bout our lives 10 to 50 years hence. Why do we not live in the moment? Why don't we enjoy whats going on but rather ponder bout our futures and if we will be happy then? As teenagers we think of our lives after college, about a family, a job etc. Is this the measure of your life? Living in the past or pondering about the future but never truly understanding the wonder of the present. I am an engineering student and each day I think about my scores in the exams, how it will affect my placements. If that isn't enough I start thinking about my masters degree and which is the best way to gain maximum money, be it business or service. Why do almost all humans define a successful life on the basis of power, money and fame?
In today's world we are desperate to make a mark for ourselves, secure a place in the "higher" niche of our twisted society. This question applies to all of us who are a part of this rat race..."DOES IT MATTER?". The answer is not definite but according to me it doesn't. I don't think that the measure of success is any of the things I have mentioned above. The thing with life is that you can analyze it only after its over! Which is where the problem arises. After your death none of the analysis matters anymore! It doesn't matter if the people thought you were an "Angel" or if they thought of you as "The Principal of Satan's school of evil". Now the question is, "What matters if not this?". The answer i feel lies in your soul and your mind. No matter how you have lived your life at the end it all comes down to the last few moments of your conscious being. Your final thoughts are what matter in the end. You could be a billionaire or a vagabond, if your soul is at peace you will be satisfied. I consider death to be the ascension of the soul leaving behind the prosthetic mortal body. According to me the only thing that remains is your soul, all the fame and fortune you have struggled to earn belong to your mortal body. My name is Rahul Kamath but I am not Rahul Kamath. I have no particular form. At the end life is nothing but energy and energy can change forms. Energy cannot be destroyed therefore my soul cannot be destroyed. That is why I believe that only the soul matters because it is the only thing that remains.
On your death bed only your last thought will count. Only your last thought will make the final impression on your soul. The entire point of you life is to add that final impression to your ageless soul. So if your last thought is a happy one your life would have been successful. The cause of the happy thought could be anything. You could have saved someone's life or simply helped out a friend with his/her homework. On your death bed the important things in your life will flash before your eyes. If these important events are of positive nature you will know that your life was a successful one. All the fame and fortune we gather through our lives are to satisfy the superficial criteria of a successful life defined by society. Remember that only you or rather your soul decides if your life is a successful one and all the materialistic ideas of this world do not matter once your mortal vehicle stops functioning.
So at the end just make sure that you go through your life in such a way that when it's your time to go you can be sure that your final thought is a happy one.

An incident to begin with!!!!

Life’s full of miracles , or may be u call them co-incidences. These phenomena happen exactly at the time you want something of that sort to happen .You take it as a good luck ,an optimistic sign or Just thank God that it happened and think about how much he loves you!!!It makes you happy from within . You get that “feel good” feeling!!!


There are a few incidences in my life when things have happened at the right time either to correct me or to make my life just better. I would love to share those several incidences though one by one and how each one corrected me or just gave me that ray of hope that all isn’t lost in life. Of course I have seen people having problems in their life that I can’t even imagine how I cud have managed if I had to experience them first hand.

I really don’t know from where to start , so let me just take an incident that happened recently.

I was out on my college trip. I was going through a turmoil . Within me was a mixture of emotions , though I was with my closest friends I felt alone . And my behavior from a talkative exuberant type ,I had become quiet and was keeping a lot to myself . I don’t know how was I overcome with so many emotions. I needed a sign , especially from the almighty .I wanted to feel peaceful within , but somehow I was not able to. It was the last day of our trip and we were cooling off or rather trying to heat up at the banks of Ganga in Rishikesh after we had done river rafting(which was awesome!!!). That’s when we spotted an ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) temple.

Now , I am a South Indian who is used to seeing the Idols in temple being black in color i.e made up of Black colored Stone (especially the Krishna temple near my house back here in Mumbai to which I have been going since childhood).And normally in ISKCON temples the idol is made up of white marble (at least in the ones I have visited).And somehow I don’t get that same feeling in an ISKCON temple as the one I get in a south Indian temple . Is it just because I am used to it , I suppose so! (Sound’s stupid doesn’t it).

That day I wanted that homely feeling more than any other day. Now you may guessed what must have happened that day. I reluctantly climbed the steps of the temple thinking that its going to be a white idol wishing if it could be Lord Krishna I am used to (I really don’t know why I was thinking about it so much that day) and then I was totally taken aback by what I saw, of all Idols only the Krishna’s idol was made up of black stone. It was the first time I had seen an ISKCON temple with a black colored idol of Krishna .I confirmed with my friend who is into ISKCON, said that there are a few ISKCON temples with a black Idol of lord Krishna.

And of all temples it had to be that one that day when I needed a sign , even though it was with one of my most stupidest notions . But somehow after it happened I felt as if that weight from my chest was lifted off . I felt better , felt clearer and knew that all was not lost. I actually enjoyed my return journey to Mumbai well. In a month or 2 all of my turmoil’s had disappeared and things fell into place as I wanted.

May be it was not a miracle or was just a co-incidence , but then this small incident made me feel good and got me through the remaining time till the problem was solved .But then it happened at the right time .Let me specify, I am not a pious person who goes to temple everyday . But that day I needed support as I felt alone and somehow I got it and my mind ‘s tsunami was curtailed.

But the question remains Why did that coincidence have to take place that day? Especially when I needed a positive sign that badly? Why did this thought of the color of the Idol even come to my mind?? I still wonder to this day was it a miracle ?

-Preetham Kamath

And it begins.......

Me and my Close friend Rahul (rrz as we fondly call him) always discussed about Life , Soul and most importantly God. So one fine day I finished reading Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol and the very theme of the book touched my heart and the book had all the questions that usually used to come to my mind!!!


I will surely elaborate on it on a later date, but den after I read that book I had this urge to start my own Blog (I have had a unsuccessful attempt once with that blog now lost in the vast ocean of the Internet) , but then for this blog I wanted it to have a purpose . A purpose of actually having an outlet to my thoughts and my questions about God, religion, the universe, Science , Our Mind , our bodies , or are we just another form of evolution of species and the list of my question goes on and on. And so I approached Rrz to help me with this blog to which he happily agreed to .

By the way I know by now this thought must have come to your mind that this blog is just another shot at spirituality . But then its not (though it’s up to you to decide). I am just a 21 year old guy whose parents are religious and whose only exposure to spirituality is a few books here and there and visit to temples with my parents. But then still these questions have always bugged me and at times I wonder how come today’s youth refrains from discussing such a wonderful and profound topic. Why is it “uncool” to talk about it or is it just a waste of time and energy to find answers that you will never find to questions that are really absurd best example being WHO AM I??? the answer is surely not Preetham Kamath or Rahul Kamath.

I am too a part of this Young generation sandwiched between two sets of people one who believe in religion and God blindly and the other who refuses to .I want to push myself out of this and know what religion actually is ??? What Spirituality actually is ?? And is there really a GOD or GODS ?? And where are we heading to??

Every one of us has goals , some wants to have a nice BMW on their front porch of their mansion whereas some want to “settle down “ with a beautiful wife and kids and retire hopefully with the kids taking care of their parents. But the best part ,would it be LIFE if things went the way we wanted it to???And we sit and worry about all such stuff!!!!

None of us have the time to give a thought to all these questions about LIFE , hence as I said the sole purpose of this blog is that we want you to give a thought to these questions at least once and then you will realize that what your knowledge is , is not even a drop but a molecule in the ocean called Life and some how in this cycle you will find answers to at least a few of them, and realize what your true Goal in Life is…… The best part is Even I and rrz don’t know the answer to these questions and we hope to do so by may be just discussing it with the world and thus may be one fine day in this process we hope to find the Answers !!!!!