Monthly Archives: January, 2011
Purpose of Life and the Universe
Someone asked me whether I thought there was any purpose to life and to the universe. I think it is important here to distinguish between short range and long-range purpose. Short range purpose relates to matters of temporal significance: My purpose in writing this note, the purpose of a bird catching a fish and taking …
Betelgeuse to become a Supernova
Astronomers and astrophysicists observe and analyze the fates and fortunes of stars up there, leaving lesser mortals to worry about oil depletion, global warming, threats of terrorism, and the like. They entertain themselves in conferences and with technical papers dealing with topics of stellar significance, rather than in tea-parties. But once in a while they …
On a Governor’s Statement
The new governor of Alabama, Robert Bentley, is reported to have said that we are all brothers and sisters, and added (according to the Birmingham News): “Now I will have to say that, if we don’t have the same daddy, we’re not brothers and sisters. So anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ …
RTL: Joan of Arc of Robert Southey
After reading Southey’s The Inchcape Rock, I was drawn to his epic poem Joan of Arc, written in the last decade of the eighteenth century. I was struck by the fact that this English poet was writing so beautifully about a woman whom his own countrymen had bought as a slave and allowed to be …
RTL: The Inchcape Rock of Robert Southey
Lorelei reminded me of Robert Southey’s Inchcape Rock I had read decades ago. That’s the poem in which The Abbot of Aberbrothok Had placed that bell on the Inchcape Rock; On a buoy in the storm it floated and swung, And over the waves its warning rung. But the evil Ralph the Rover and his …
Pongal: The Tamil Festival on January 14
[Warning: This is a longer-than-usual piece!] Many colorful festivals are marked in the Hindu calendar. Each has its own particular mode of celebration. But there are also local variations. This should not be surprising in a vast country like India where many languages and customs have evolved in different regions. It is the same in …
RTL: Baudháyana’s Dharmashástra
In the ancient Hindu framework life was to be governed by codes that included canonically prescribed thoughts, words, and deeds. The goal was to guide people to lead righteous lives with the ultimate goal of inner peace, societal harmony and spiritual liberation. The principles of right living are collectively known as dharma. Classical texts embodying …
RTL: Le Roman d’Alexandre
Alexendre de Bernay lived in France in the twelfth century. He collected all the available materials, poetic, hearsay and parchments, about the still more ancient Macedonian conqueror who is now known as Alexander the Great. He put all these together in what was then an unusually long poem in Europe: an epic running to more …
Retreat to Literature
When I feel gloomy at the state of the world, when I get depressed reading and hearing news about conflicts and wars, assassinations and genocides, hate and threat, and such, I retreat to literature and delve into some ancient writer from no matter which language or culture: for the great writers of the past have …
A view of God
Someone asked me for my view of God. He is my answer: I have really only a very fuzzy view on the matter. All I know is that throughout human history some of the most brilliant minds and spiritually (?) evolved individuals in all cultures have given utterance in multiple ways to their visions/experiences of …
