Speculations Around and About Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Ramana Maharishi
The life of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa ‘enables us to see God face to
face’, Gandhiji wrote.
Similarly, when someone in his circle was
distraught, the Mahatma sent him to spend time at the Ashram of Ramana
Maharshi.
Such was their stature and influence.
The Paramahamsa
and the Maharshi have been among the greatest spiritual figures of our
country.
They have transformed the lives of and have been a solace to
millions. Moreover, in our tradition, words of such mystics are regarded
as conclusive.
They have evidentiary status: if they say there is a
soul, there is; if they say there is life-after-death or reincarnation,
there is.
Their peak, mystic experience is what we yearn to have, even
just once.
But what if several of the experiences they had - the
feeling that someone higher is present next to them, the feeling that
they are floating above their body, looking down at it; the ‘near-death
experience’; the ecstasy; the visions - occur in other circumstances
also?
Should we think again about their experiences when these occur as
points in the brain are stimulated with an electrode during surgery?
What if they can be recreated in a laboratory non-invasively? When they
occur to ordinary persons placed in extraordinary circumstances?
Did
the experiences occur from some ailment?
As was alleged in the case of
Sri Ramakrishna?
From some ‘madness’, which he feared he had?
From the
fits that Sri Ramana said he used to have?
What of the
experiences of devotees?
Seeing the Master where he wasn’t?
Seeing the
Master, feeling his presence, after he had passed away?
Are these
hallucinations?
Or do they testify to the Master’s divinity?
How would
conclusions about their experiences affect their teaching?
That the
world and everything in it is ‘unreal’?
In the light of their
pristine example, how should we view and what should we do about the
godmen and gurus who control vast financial and real estate empires
today, to whom lakhs flock?
Are they the saints they set themselves up
to be or just marketers?
With the diligence and painstaking
research that mark all his work, Arun Shourie probes these questions in
the light of the recent breath-taking advances in neuroscience, as well
as psychology and sociology.
The result is a book of remarkable rigour:
an examination - and ultimately reconciliation - of science and faith as
also of seemingly antagonistic, irreconcilable worldviews.
[Book Description Source: www.amazon.in ]
Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 3.8 out of 5 ( 10 Ratings , 1 Review - As on July 20 2017)
My Rating: 3 out of 5
My Comments:A rather convincing scientific explanation of the mystic experiences of the two saints - Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Ramana Maharshi - without doubting their sincerity and the solace they brought to their countless devotees.
The explanation is supported by very scholarly and dry details of the neurological studies conducted on the mind by various scientists.
Unless read with an open mind, this book may hurt the sentiments of some hard-core devotees of these saints.
I would have rated this book higher if only the narration was more interesting and understandable.
I found it rather boring and abstruse in many sections.
Inspite of this shortcoming, I would recommend this book to everyone who are curious to know why mystical experiences happen in some people.
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A lavishly funded, security-conscious nanotechnology institute in the
foothills of the Rockies, Nano is ahead of the curve in the competitive
world of molecular manufacturing, including the construction of
microbivores, tiny nanorobots with the ability to gobble up viruses and
bacteria.
But when Pia Grazdani takes a job there, she’s shocked
by the secretive corporate culture.
She’s warned by her boss not to
investigate the other work being done at the gigantic facility, nor to
ask questions about the source of the seemingly endless capital that
funds the institute’s research.
And when Pia encounters a fellow
employee on a corporate jogging path suffering the effects of a seizure,
she soon realizes she may have literally stumbled upon Nano’s human
guinea pigs.
Is the tech giant on the cusp of one of the biggest medical
discoveries of the twenty-first century—a treatment option for
millions—or have they already sold out to the highest bidder?
[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ]
Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 3.11 out of 5 (2437 Ratings; 440 Reviews)
My Rating: 3 out of 5
My Comments: As I was reading this book, I had almost made up my mind to give it a 4 star rating. But the abrupt and disappointing climax put me off and I ended up giving a 3 star instead.
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How to Get Things Right
We live in a world of great and increasing complexity, where even the
most expert professionals struggle to master the tasks they face.
Longer training, ever more advanced technologies—neither seems to
prevent grievous errors.
But in a hopeful turn, acclaimed surgeon and
writer Atul Gawande finds a remedy in the humblest and simplest of
techniques: the checklist.
First introduced decades ago by the U.S. Air
Force, checklists have enabled pilots to fly aircraft of mind-boggling
sophistication.
Now innovative checklists are being adopted in hospitals
around the world, helping doctors and nurses respond to everything from
flu epidemics to avalanches.
Even in the immensely complex world of
surgery, a simple ninety-second variant has cut the rate of fatalities
by more than a third.
In riveting stories, Gawande takes us from
Austria, where an emergency checklist saved a drowning victim who had
spent half an hour underwater, to Michigan, where a cleanliness
checklist in intensive care units virtually eliminated a type of deadly
hospital infection.
He explains how checklists actually work to prompt
striking and immediate improvements.
And he follows the checklist
revolution into fields well beyond medicine, from disaster response to
investment banking, skyscraper construction, and businesses of all
kinds.
An intellectual adventure in which lives are lost and saved and one simple idea makes a tremendous difference, The Checklist Manifesto is essential reading for anyone working to get things right.
[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ]
Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 4 out of 5 (19634 Ratings, 1982 Reviews)
My Rating: 3 out of 5.
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Buy from Amazon.in Buy Kindle Version
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