Showing posts with label cat. Show all posts

Sunday, June 3, 2012

DO YOU BELIEVE IN RITUALS

DO YOU BELIEVE IN RITUALS

Food for Thought

VIKRAM KARVE

In the name of tradition, we unquestioningly follow traditions and customs and perform all types of many rituals without understanding the spirit behind the ritual.

A ritual is an action performed purely for symbolic value.

In many cases there is no logic or rational explanation for the ritual.

This apocryphal story from ancient wisdom “ The Mystical Cat ” illustrates how customs, traditions and rituals start.

The story also tells you how by repeated repetition over the years these rituals are gradually established.

And then, once established how customs, traditions and rituals are blindly followed for years and years though, in most cases, these rituals have outlived their utility and meaning.

THE MYSTICAL CAT

An Ancient Wisdom Story

VIKRAM KARVE

A seeker joined a monastery to learn meditation and the art of living.

Every evening all students and disciples assembled in the large meditation hall for a discourse by the Spiritual Guru followed by group meditation.

Just before the meditation session commenced the disciples would catch a cat, tie it up and place it on the lap of the Spiritual Guru, who would then start caressing the cat and begin the discourse and meditation session.

After the event was over, the cat would be untied and set free.

This was the established daily ritual and the Guru would start the meditation session only after the tied up cat was placed on his lap, so much so that once when the cat could not be found, the meditation session was delayed and all the seekers launched a desperate hunt till they found the cat which was duly tied up and placed on the Guru’s lap and only then did he start his discourse-cum-meditation session.

The seeker was quite perplexed at the mystery of the tied up cat and the significance of this ritual. The seeker wondered: “What is the significance of the tied up cat placed on the Guru's lap and what is its correlation with meditation?”

He asked around but no one knew the answer till someone told him to ask a wise old man who lived in a cave up the hills, so our curious seeker trudged up the hills to meet the wise old man and ask him the significance of this time-honoured ritual.

“It is like this,” the wise old man said, “one evening, many years ago, when the then Spiritual Guru and his disciples began their evening meditation, a cat that lived in the monastery made so much noise that it distracted them and disturbed their meditation pratice. So the Guru ordered that the cat be tied up during the evening discourse-cum-meditation practice. This practice of tying up the cat before meditation practice continued, so much so that even when the teacher died, the next Guru continued this tradition and a cat continued to be tied up during the meditation session.

When the cat died, another cat was brought to the monastery to be tied up during the evening meditation session, and when that cat too died they brought another cat to be tied up during meditation practice, and with the passage of time this has become such an established ritual that now no one can dare to start the meditation session without the tied up cat.”

Years later, the ritual of tying up the cat during the meditation session continued and continued, and our seeker, who by then had become the Spiritual Guru, wrote a scholarly treatise about the significance of tying up a cat for meditation practice.

The man who accepts tradition without examining that tradition with his own intelligence and judgement is like a blind man led by others.

So, Dear Reader, if you see any ritual, custom or tradition being blindly followed and for which there seems to be no rational or logical explanation, remember this story of the Mystical Cat...

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2012
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Did you like this story?
I am sure you will like the 27 fiction short stories from my recently published anthology of Short Fiction COCKTAIL
To order your COCKTAIL please click any of the links below:
http://www.flipkart.com/cocktail-vikram-karve-short-stories-book-8191091844?affid=nme
http://www.indiaplaza.in/cocktail-vikram-karve/books/9788191091847.htm
http://www.apkpublishers.com/books/short-stories/cocktail-by-vikram-karve.html

COCKTAIL ebook
If you prefer reading ebooks on Kindle or your ebook reader, please order Cocktail E-book by clicking the links below:
AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MGERZ6
SMASHWORDS
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/87925

Foodie Book: Appetite for a Stroll
If your are a Foodie you will like my book of Food Adventures APPETITE FOR A STROLL. Do order a copy from FLIPKART:
http://www.flipkart.com/appetite-stroll-vikram-karve/8190690094-gw23f9mr2o

About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories, creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional research papers in journals and edited in-house journals for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for almost 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing. Vikram lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

Vikram Karve Academic and Creative Writing Journal: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile Vikram Karve: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Vikram Karve Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/vikramkarve
Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog: http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm
Email: vikramkarve@sify.com

Friday, May 18, 2012

The PET and The VET

THE ART OF MEDICAL PRACTICE

Clinical Diagnosis versus Evidence Based Diagnosis

VIKRAM KARVE

Now-a-days SPECIALISATION is the buzzword.

Here is a story for all you who believe only in Specialists.

This story is about doctors but the moral of the story is equally applicable universally in all professions.

When I was a small boy living in Pune in the 1960s, if you fell ill you called your family doctor home and he checked you up.

Every family had their own family doctor, a General Practitioner (GP), who was like a member of the family. He knew all about your medical and family history and you had explicit faith in your family doctor and you had a mutually rewarding relationship.

After a thorough physical examination to diagnose what was wrong, your family doctor either gave you medicines or an injection there and then or he asked someone to come over to his clinic to collect medicines which were mostly mixtures of ground tablets or liquid concotions prepared by the compounder and given to you in bottles with dosages indicated by stuck paper strips.

My doctor friend tells me that this approach is called Clinical Diagnosis.

Surfing the internet I found that clinical diagnosis is a diagnosis based on a study of the signs and symptoms of a disease (The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary 2007) or a diagnosis made on the basis of knowledge obtained by medical history and physical examination alone, without benefit of laboratory tests or x-ray films (Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 8th edition, 2009, Elsevier).

Nowadays GPs seem to have vanished and you have to go to a specialist if you fall ill. And the specialist sends you for a series of laboratory tests – blood, urine et al – and then studies the reports and prescribes medicines accordingly.

My doctor friend tells me that this is called Evidence Based Diagnosis.

In a lighter vein let me share with you a humorous story, surely apocryphal, that my doctor friend narrated to me on this subject.

THE PET and THE VET

A woman brought her unconscious pet parrot to a veterinary doctor (vet).

The vet physically examined the lifeless bird and told the woman that her pet parrot was dead.

The distressed woman wailed, “Are you sure…?”

“Yes. I am sure. Your parrot is dead…” the vet said.

“How can you be so sure…? You haven’t done any tests or anything on my parrot…” the distraught woman said, “I don't believe you … You are just an ordinary vet … I want to show him to some good specialists … I want a specialist opinion.”

The vet nodded his head and said, “Okay...”

He then turned around and left the room and returned a few minutes later with a dog – a black Labrador retriever.

As the woman looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the parrot from top to bottom.

The Labrador then looked up at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head.

The vet patted the dog on the head and the Lab went out of the room wagging its tail.

A few minutes the vet returned with a cat.

The cat jumped on the table and also delicately sniffed the parrot from head to foot.

The cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly and the vet lifted the cat and sent it out of the room.

Then the vet looked at the woman and said, “I am sorry, but as I said, your parrot is definitely dead.”

The vet then went to his desk and wrote out his bill which he gave to the woman.

The woman, still recovering from the grief of the death of her beloved pet parrot, was totally stunned with disbelief when she saw the bill.

“What…!!! Two Thousand Rupees…?” the woman protested in bewilderment and she said, “You are charging me Rs. 2000 just to tell me that my parrot is dead…? This is ridiculous…!”

The vet shrugged and said, “I am sorry but it is you who wanted to show your parrot to specialists. If you had taken my word for it, my bill would have been just Rs. 50, but you were not satisfied with the diagnosis of an ordinary vet like me and you insisted that I refer your parrot to specialists and get some tests done - so the Lab Report cost Rs. 950 and the Cat Scan a further Rs. 1000 so that totals Rs. 2000 …”

8190690094-gw23f9mr2o

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

THE LESSER THE BAGGAGE THE BETTER THE JOURNEY - A Story on the Art of Living

THE LESSER THE BAGGAGE THE BETTER THE JOURNEY

A Story on the Art of Living

VIKRAM KARVE

I once read somewhere or maybe I heard someone say "the lesser the baggage the better the journey" and I am sure you have read the railway motto Less Baggage Better Travel.

I think this applies to our journey of life too.

We seem to carry too much baggage, all types of baggage (material, emotional, tangible, intangible, the "baggage" of power, wealth, fame, ego, pride ... and worse we carry the "baggage" of painful relationships, "baggage" of the past, "baggage" like the debris of broken relationships ... all types of "baggage" which contaminate our minds and inner self ). And it is this "baggage" that inhibits and spoils our smooth and enjoyable journey through life.

Maybe this apocryphal teaching story is apt to illustrate this point.

A worldly man seeking Nirvana, true enlightenment, renounced worldly life, took a strict vow of celibacy which was a sine qua non for attaining enlightenment. He then headed for the hills to live an ascetic existence of a hermit.

He found a secluded cave and began his simple contemplative meditative life surviving on natural wild vegetation in the forest and began his journey towards his quest for enlightenment.

One day he noticed holes in his robe and discovered that there were lots of rats in the cave who were chewing off his robes.

The rats soon were nibbling at his toes disturbing his meditation.

Perplexed, he went down to town and consulted his Guru who said, “No problem. It’s simple. Get a cat.”

“A cat...?” asked the seeker perplexed.

“The cat will take care of the rats,” the Guru said.

So our wise man bought a cat and took it up to his cave.

The cat took care of the rats and the wise man was undisturbed in his quest for enlightenment.

A few days later the cat had eaten up all the rats, and famished, the cat started moaning with hunger.

The constant moaning and crying of the cat again disturbed the wise man’s meditation so the seeker again rushed to consult his Guru.

“Get a cow,” the Guru advised the seeker.

“A cow...?” the seeker exclaimed in astonishment.

“Yes. The cow will yield milk with which you can feed your cat and satiate its hunger,” the Guru said.

Now the seeker would spend some time milking the cow, feeding the cat and then settle down for his meditation.

A few days later the cow stopped giving milk and mooed loudly.

The cat too had started moaning again and disturbed by the moaning of the hungry cat and mooing of the starving cow the wise man ran to his Guru once again to seek his advice.

“Buy some seeds, plant them, tend to the plants and the crop will give food for the cow and you,” the Guru said.

The seeker planted the seeds which yielded food both for the cow and himself.

However now the man had to spend so much time tending to his garden, feeding and milking his cow, and giving milk to his cat, that he hardly got any time for meditation.

He rushed to his Guru who once again had a ready solution, “There is a young widow – poor thing she is destitute. She will look after everything and you can meditate in peace and attain enlightenment.”

It was indeed a wonderful arrangement – the young widow looked after everything, the garden, cow and cat flourished, and the wise man was undisturbed in his quest for enlightenment.

One day it began to snow, the temperature fell to sub-zero, and the young widow started to shiver owing to the biting cold.

Soon she could not bear the bitter cold any longer, so she snuggled into the wise man’s bed and tightly embraced him as that was the only way for her to keep warm.

Now tell me, which man can resist the tight embrace of an attractive woman in the prime of her life...?

The vow of celibacy lay shattered and there ended the wise man’s quest for enlightenment.

And with all his new possessions [the cat, the cow, and the woman], the seeker returned back to the material world and began to live a worldly life from where he had began his journey towards enlightenment to attain Nirvana.

The "wise" man was back to square one, much "wiser"...!

Dear Reader,

Read this teaching story from ancient wisdom again.

Then close your eyes and reflect on it.

Carry the story around in your mind all day and allow its fragrance, its melody to haunt you.

Create a silence within you and let the story reveal to you its inner depth and meaning.

Let the story speak to your heart, not to your brain, and suddenly you will feel a sense of mystical epiphany when you realize the wisdom of the story.

Now you are ready to apply the wisdom to your own life and experience the inner meaning of the story till it transforms you and puts you on the path to enlightenment.

Remember: Unburden yourself of all your "baggage" and TRAVEL LIGHT ON THE JOURNEY OF LIFE

The Lesser the Baggage, the Better the Journey

VIKRAM KARVE

Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

Did you like reading this post?
I am sure you will like all the 27 stories in my recently published book of short stories COCKTAIL
To order your COCKTAIL please click any of the links below:
http://www.flipkart.com/cocktail-vikram-karve-short-stories-book-8191091844?affid=nme
http://www.indiaplaza.in/cocktail-vikram-karve/books/9788191091847.htm
http://www.apkpublishers.com/books/short-stories/cocktail-by-vikram-karve.html
COCKTAIL ebook
If you prefer reading ebooks on Kindle or your ebook reader, please order Cocktail E-book by clicking the links below:
AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MGERZ6
SMASHWORDS
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/87925

Foodie Book: Appetite for a Stroll
http://www.flipkart.com/appetite-stroll-vikram-karve/8190690094-gw23f9mr2o

About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories, creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional research papers in journals and edited in-house journals for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for almost 14 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing. Vikram lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

Vikram Karve Academic and Creative Writing Journal: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile Vikram Karve: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Vikram Karve Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/vikramkarve
Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog: http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm
Email: vikramkarve@sify.com
vikramkarve@gmail.com

Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve

Sunday, June 3, 2012

DO YOU BELIEVE IN RITUALS

Friday, May 18, 2012

The PET and The VET

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

THE LESSER THE BAGGAGE THE BETTER THE JOURNEY - A Story on the Art of Living

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