JayCollier.net » India

Niraj Chag: “Khwaab” (Is my essence just a delusion?)

Jay Collier — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 16:22:51 +0000

From Niraj Chag:

There was a season when my steps were unwavering
Within me was this ocean
That would repair and cure me of all my pains
But at the passing of time
I am no longer certain of my hearts integrity
The days of my youth
Now only an abstract memory

Is my essence just a delusion?
How long do I submit to such a night
Where dreams are shattered
And mine forsake me
My silent cries reveal stains of my memory

Video via Putamayo on YouTube
Lyrics excerpted from Lyricreg

Krishnamurti’s 1974 talks on education are still inspiring

Jay Collier — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 03:47:27 +0000

“Education is not only learning from books, memorizing some facts, but also learning how to look, how to listen to what the books are saying, whether they are saying something true or false. All that is part of education.

“Education is not just to pass examinations, take a degree and a job, get married and settle down, but also to be able to listen to the birds, to see the sky, to see the extraordinary beauty of a tree, and the shape of the hills, and to feel with them, to be really, directly in touch with them…

“The function of your teachers is to educate not only the partial mind but the totality of the mind; to educate you so that you do not get caught in the little whirlpool of existence but live in the whole river of life. This is the whole function of education. The right kind of education cultivates your whole being, the totality of your mind. It gives your mind and heart a depth, an understanding of beauty….

“There is a great deal to learn about yourself. It is an endless thing, it is a fascinating thing, and when you learn about yourself from yourself, out of that learning wisdom comes. Then you can live a most extraordinary, happy, beautiful life. Right?

Excerpts from J. Krishnamurti Online

Creative destruction

Jay Collier — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 13:28:51 +0000

During several days of contemplation about creativity and transformation — thank you #TEDxDirigo! — I was drawn, again, to consider “creative destruction:” the perspective that successful new ideas expand upon, integrate, and destroy the form of the prior.

“Just as the cassette tape replaced the 8-track, only to be replaced in turn by the compact disc, itself being undercut by MP3 players, … online free newspaper sites such as The Huffington Post and the National Review Online are leading to creative destruction of the traditional paper newspaper….

“In fact, successful innovation is normally a source of temporary market power, eroding the profits and position of old firms, yet ultimately succumbing to the pressure of new inventions commercialised by competing entrants….

“In philosophical terms, the concept of ‘creative destruction’ is close to Hegel‘s concept of sublation. It was introduced into German economic discourse by Werner Sombart in 1913 … It has been argued that Sombart’s formulation of the concept was influenced by Eastern mysticism, specifically the image of the Hindu god Shiva….

“In Hinduism, the god Shiva is simultaneously destroyer and creator, portrayed as Shiva Nataraja (Lord of the Dance), which is proposed as the source of the Western notion of ‘creative destruction.’”

Excerpts from Wikipedia