Which is Easier: Straightening a Dog's Tail or Making Election Clean?

Politics has become a dirty game. It has now come to a situation where people say unless you are a crook, you cannot make a career in politics. But if politics has become a den of thieves and robbers, we cannot expect them to legislate rules that would govern our collective life towards a more progressive society; to enhance our well-being. How can we expect thieves and robbers to lead the way in striving for common good? Good people must enter the political arena if we have to have a decent society. 

So this campaign -- Clean Election -- by certain groups is a brave and a desirable move. And to make Clean Election more effective in the future, this is what I have to say. It is not sufficient to say that candidates should not distribute money or that people should not take money from the candidates. I call telling the candidates not to try to lure people with money or telling people not to take money as the first line of Strategy for Clean Election campaign. I think we need a second line as well to make it more effective. And this is the second line of strategy: Even if you have taken money, you need not vote for the person from whom you have taken money. Don't let your conscience prick you into voting for the candidate from whom you have taken money! 

Now let me provide a theological justification for the second line. Over the years if all the candidates realise that giving money does not really gather votes, they will stop using money to purchase votes. If money does not gather votes, real issues that affect the lives of the people will have to be the subject of electioneering. And this is what Clean Election campaign wants to obtain.

Human being is intrinsically good. I am a Christian and I believe that when God made us, he declares his creation good. But there is also something that has gone wrong. So there is also this part of fallenness in all of us. So trying to get a perfect world through democracy or theocracy or monarchy or whatever is going to be like trying to straighten a dog's tail. However, we can make the world less unjust or a little better place to live. This is possible!

Buddhism is Not an Atheistic Religion

Gotama, as it is spelled in Digha Nikaya, was concerned with ending suffering. His teaching has no room for the gods to help a person is realising nibbaba ('nirvana' in Sanskrit). The existence of heaven and hell are not his concern. All of this does not mean that Gotama denies the existence of gods, heaven and hell. If atheism means denial of the existence of gods, then Gotama was not an atheist; and Buddhism not an atheistic religion. 

In the 16th Sutta of the Digha Nikaya, called Mahaparinibbana Sutta: The Great Passing (The Buddha's Last Days), an account relating to the gods takes place. Gotama was almost at the end of his life. Just then when Upavana was standing near to him, fanning the dying Gotama, Gotama asked him to move aside. Ananda, Gotama's close disciple, asked the Lord why this was done. Gotama said, Ananda, the devas from ten world-spheres have gathered to see the Tathagata... attain final Nibbana" Gotama continued saying that the devas (gods) are complaining that their vision is being blocked by the monk standing in front of the Lord. Upon inquiring what kind of gods have come, Gotama said that sky-devas,  earth-devas and devas who are free from craving are there. 

Traditional Buddhism also believes that a person can be reborn in Hell or in the world of hungry ghost or the asuras (demons) or peerless devas etc. Considering this sort of beliefs, it is not correct to label Buddhism as an atheistic religion.

Quoting Wikipedia as a Source: Yes or No?

So many people have written on this, nevertheless, I thought it's important to repeat here specially for those who may read only my blog. Is it alright to quote Wikipedia material as a source when one is writing a book or an article for a journal? No. And these are the reasons: 

1. One never knows who all have written the materials of Wikipedia. It could have been written by a Ph.D scholar or  by someone with a strong prejudice about the subject matter. Since one does not have sufficient idea whether the material has been written by a person with sufficient expertise or not, it is not trustworthy. Along with this take the fact that the materials can be edited by anyone. 

2. When online materials are quoted, it is important to give the date of accessing the materials. With Wikipedia the materials can change many a time in a day itself since it follows a system where anyone can do editing. This is just too unstable and thus leaves no chance to be vetted by scholars.

NB: To get the broad overview of the subject, Wikipedia provides a good platform. But to be quoted as an authoritative source for a book/journal, Wikipedia is not an appropriate source, at least for now.

Amartya Sen, Religious Identity & Conflicts

In his essays and lectures, Amartya Sen emphasizes again and again that all individuals belong to different groups. The fact that Paole is a teacher does not entail that being a teacher is his only identity. Besides being a teacher, he is also affiliated to diverse groups that give him some sort of identity. He is a hockey player, political activist, poet, Christian, childless parent, Indian etc. Affiliation to different groups give him identity which if a particular identity is prioritized over others, Sen argues, his identity would be wrongly misconstrued. This multiple affiliation by an individual leads Sen to argue that mono-categorisation of a person's identity is unhelpful and can easily play into the hand of a religious fundamentalist. Is Prof. Sen correct? 

I think as a non-religious person Sen fails to see how much religious worldview shapes the identity of a person. Key questions like where am I headed? How do I obtain moral learning from? What is the purpose of my life? etc are very significant matters in the life of a person. For a practising Christian or a Muslim these questions are answered through the sacred text. Unlike a non-religious person for whom where there is no particular source from where all these answered can be derived, a Christian or a Muslim search deep into their respective Scripture to get the answer. Departure from this practice would make him or her a non-practising Christian or a Muslim. 

Once a Christian or a Muslim learns an ethical pattern from the Scripture, he or she will apply the learning in all the domain of his or her life. Thus religious affiliation effects the person to live out his or her religious conviction. This religious affiliation takes priority over even national affiliation or family affiliation. This is the nature of religious affiliation. Religious affiliation does not always come into conflict with national or family affiliation. But sometimes it does. For example, even when former USSR adopted atheism as its official religion, faithful Christians refused to comply with the state's law.

Does this entail that a clash of civilisation is inevitable? No. But that is not the point of inquiry here. In this post I seek to underline that religious identity of particularly the Christians or the Muslims is the most primary identity and will continue to remain so.

Bamboo Stem Plantation

The valuable Bamboo plant has many uses. It can be used to carry water, as building material, for making furniture, craft work and to control erosion on riverbanks. But bamboo is always in short supply because it is not usually cultivated by farmers. It just grows wild. Most types of bamboo grow shoots from underground stems called rhizomes. These shoots grow into tall above-ground stems.

If you want to propagate bamboo it is important to follow the correct method. Take cuttings from tall trunks in a clump that is not more than three years old. You will get the best results if you take cuttings from the middle part of the trunk. A trunk 10 metres high will give about four cuttings.

Each cutting should have two full, undamaged internodes and a half internode.

Planting

Plant the cuttings as soon as they are cut because they are sensitive to shock, which can result in poor germination or complete failure. Light sandy loam soils are best for bamboo growing.

Allow plenty of space for the cuttings to develop. Plant them vertically, with the half internode above ground. Apply a seal of moist clay to the top cut edge of the bamboo without covering the hole. The clay will act as a disinfectant. Pour two cups of water into the top of the bamboo cutting. Keep adding water regularly until roots and green shoots develop at the nodes.

Other Method

You can also use longer cuttings with four to six internodes (see diagram below). Plant these horizontally, after making a hole in the middle internode. Keep this hole filled with water until the nodes produce roots and new growth. Cuttings can also be made from aerial shoots that develop on the tall trunks. These cuttings must have at least two and a half internodes.These methods can be used to establish community forests or in reforestation programmes. Let’s keep growing bamboo!

 NB: This material is lifted from Tearfund's publication Footsteps no. 23. The link is given below: 

http://tilz.tearfund.org/Publications/Footsteps+21-30/Footsteps+23/Growing+bamboo.htm

Daniel, Chris & Pumpkin Man

Chris stayed with us for few months. And carving a pumpkin man is one of the few tricks we learn from him. We also taught him how to make aloo subzi. This is a joy of interacting with people of other cultures; we learn from one another.