Writing Comes From Reading

 

Writing Comes From Reading

Reading opens the gate of thinking; it lets you explore the other possibilities of thoughts

By Mukesh Sharma

The most difficult thing in the world is to create new thought / idea; sow it in the mind; let it germinate and catch the roots; nurture it well until it flowers and bears the fruits.

Barring a few blessed exceptions, the majority of common souls steal the thoughts from one source or the other; it is further forwarded passing it off as own; some repackage it; and a few smarts plagiaries it claiming brazenly it as their own baby. And In such whirlpool, the original creator of thought / idea is lost without trace.

Reading prompts to write

 

Such slyly stolen feats which have been mastered by the over smart Indians can be spotted on social media easily.

Are we bringing up a generation of apes – well versed in the art of copying? Unmindful of the fact that Photostat machine can never produce originals.

Many students of this teacher-turned- blogger ask a common question. Why are they not able to think what to write and how to write? They say when it comes to writing, their mind goes blank or they are able to lay their mind on oft-repeatedly stale thoughts only – nothing new, nothing original, and nothing unique, all hackneyed or rotten thoughts.

Usually, this blogger tells his students that writing is serious business, don’t take it lightly; it must be taken seriously, particularly, if you look at the literary works right from Geoffrey Chaucer (the father of English literature) to present day writers. Their works may be different in genre but all have one common quality – all are voracious readers. Of course, good writing emanates from good reading habit only. A well read man can write well.

Reading is like listening to authors; it is like enjoying the swim through the pond of thoughts of a writer; it is like going on hiking and discovering new trees and plants of thoughts. Never shirk reading, whenever, wherever and whatever you find worth-reading, do read it. Watching entertains the mind but reading activates the mind. Watching reveals the possibility. Reading tells you what can be made possible. The most of the successful people in the world are habitual readers.

Warren Edward Buffet, an American investor business tycoon whose net worth is pegged over US 85.6 billion. When someone asked him about the key to success, he said:

“Read 500 pages every day. That is how knowledge works. It builds up like compound interest. All of you can do it but I guarantee not many of you will do it.”

Elon Reeve Musk, the founder CEO and Chief designer of Space X, says he has taught himself to build rocket by reading.

Tony Robbins, an American author, Coach, and Speaker reveals that he grew up with an alcoholic mother and various abusive fathers. He attributes books to saving his life and shaping him into a leader he is today and further says:

“I took a speed reading course and read 700 books in seven years – all on psychology, philosophy, anything that could make difference in life.”

Jawaharlal Nehru was a voracious reader. He would read a lot in jail. The popular and very well acknowledged book and a must read for every Indian, “The Discovery of India” was written by him while serving jail terms during struggle for independence. So was Mahatma Gandhi, a good reader and a great writer. His book “My Experiments with truth” is worth reading.

The great scientist Late A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, a pride of India whose life is source of inspiration to all, says:

“Books are my favorite friends. And I consider my home library with many thousands books, to be my greatest wealth. Every new book based on some new idea, inspires me and gives me a new thought to pioneer.”

J.k. Rowling, the most celebrated authoress who grew up to write master piece “Harry Potter”, started writing at the age of 6, says:

“I lived for books from the young age. I  wanted to become a writer. I  had a burning desire to become a writer.”

Barrack Obama, ex-president of US says:

“When I was not working, the weekends would usually find me alone in an empty apartment making do with the company of books”

So this brings home a point that one must read a lot; make it a habit and see how one grows up as a writer. Reading opens the gate of thinking; it lets you explore other possibilities of thoughts. To a non-native speaker of English, it helps to widen the horizon of words and feeds the mind with new syntax / sentences. As for energy one must eat, one must read to write.

 

An Interview with 2021

"I am Time. I have no beginning, no end. I am boundless. Except God, nothing is beyond my reach"

By Mukesh Sharma

 

While enjoying a deep dive in the flowing river of thoughts, this blogger, suddenly, had a weird wish to meet 2021 in human form, and have talks with him. No sooner had the idea flickered than a floating two dimensional transparent image appeared in human form before the eyes sending a tingling sensation down the spine. "Don’t be afraid son" a sonorous voice echoed. “I am Time”. In no time, this blogger summoned his courage to get into conversation with the Time. Here are excerpts of thoughtful and interesting talks:

The Boundless Time

Blogger

Pranam 2021! I am blessed to have divine glimpse of Your Gracious Self.

 2021

God bless you son! The most of the writers worth their salt are, instinctively, blessed to see invisible and are able to explain even inexplicable. And you belong to the same clan.

 

Blogger

It’s your blessings and greatness Sir. I am at my wits' end to observe that Your Honor is supposed to be a few days old, but surprisingly enough, you look grown up with awesome sheen and serenity.

2021

Ha, Ha, …. Son, I am Time. I have no beginning, no end. I am boundless. Except God, nothing is beyond my reach. I was there at the moment of creation of this universe. I shall also bear witness to the destruction of this cosmos including your home so called earth. In fact, the clever man has divided, ridiculously, the indivisible time into tiny units – second, minutes, hours, day, week, month, years. decade, century, millennium, ages and so on according to his conceptualized understanding of the earth’s atmosphere and celestial position in relation to a small star what you call the sun – just to ascertain or fix the age of materials things or objects around for the convenience of his understanding.

 

Blogger

You mean to say that you have no age.

2021

Right, I don’t have age. I am beyond birth and death. I am immortal. I have no motion or movement. I just exist through whole universe. It is the pre-destined age of all the material things present within me (time) which gives the man an illusion of my continuity. I am perennial. I am countless. I am immeasurable. I have no shape or size. I am simply suffused inseparably in nature.

 

Blogger

Hold your horses Sir . . . I am confused. Would you please spell this out further?

2021

You can understand it in this way. What is a man? Man is a union of soul and body. The neutral soul remains a mute onlooker of all the actions and reactions in or outside the body. The body ages and dies. The day it breathes to last, the soul abandons the body. The soul is ageless and immortal. Lord Krishna beautifully unfolds this secret in the Gita in Sloka 20, Chapter II:

He (soul) is never born, nor does he dies at anytime, nor have (once) come to be, will he again cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, permanent and primeval. He is not slain when body is slain.

Furthermore, as wind is not divisible, as water of the ocean is not divisible, I am also not divisible.

 

Blogger

It means that New Year is an illusion; it is new only in almanac. Then why new year is celebrated across the globe?

2021

You see, human mind is obsessed with duality – two opposing aspects of everything – positive and negative that results in paranoia or phobia. Thus human life hinges on hope for the desired‘success’ to overcome the fear. New Year celebration is the celebration of wishful thinking about ensuing events. It has nothing to do with the New Year. Ever fidgeting human mind keeps shuttling from Past through Present to Future and back. It is the duality that creates Past – what has happened and Future – what will happen. It is all about happenings of events in the short span of life of the man. It is not concerned with time.

 

Blogger

In other words, there is nothing like Past or Future, right.

2021

Of course, there is no Past or Future. There is only Present. Man is born in Present; he lives in Present; and he dies in Present.

 

Blogger

Sir, would you please elucidate this arcane revelation for the benefit of mankind.

2021

Sure son, time is stagnant. Unlike matter, it has no motion or movement. It’s a hushed observer of happenings or events that keep occurring within it. Each spent-moment in Present, becomes Past, and each unspent moment, is Future. It is the Present that gives birth to Past and the hope in present that creates Future. Try to understand this way. Suppose you take a handful of water from a flowing river, will you call it Present water, Past water or Future water. It’s simple water. Obviously, it would not be just to divide water into Past, Present or Future. On the endless streak of time, there is Past beyond Past; there is Future beyond Future and so on. With constricted knowledge which is usually based on ontology, it is an arduous task for the man to understand the complicated Laws of Nature depending on varied variants in different celestial circumstances, in totality. What seems impossible is based on the principle of Possibility in Nature.

 

Blogger

It proves that man is essentially a creature of Present?

2021

Right, there is no time like present. Good Karmas in Present make good Past and good Future. The best, the brightest and the wisest work hard in Present and reach the pinnacle of human society. What you call future is very much in the hands of the man. Time is a silent spectator. It is karma in present that makes or mar the life of the man.

This blogger closed his eyes and folded his hand out of reverence, and when he opened his eyes back, the so named 2021 had disappeared. Time waits for none.

Four Agreements Between ‘I’ and Self Can transform life

 

Four Agreements  Between 

‘I’ and 'Self' Can Transform Life

 The communication gap between self and I is the root cause of the most of the problems in life

By Mukesh Sharma

In this Age of Confusion and Confliction, the most of the people are perforce to live with afflicting fear, jealousy and self-reproach all through life. Willingly or unwillingly, one listens to others and concomitantly, acts and reacts; one seldom listens to one’s own voice. The communication gap between ‘self’ and ‘I’ is the root cause of the most of the problems in life. One of the American friends of this blogger has mentioned, interestingly, of ‘four agreements’ between ‘self’ and ‘I’ in her informal communiqué which this blogger wishes to share hereby with his valued readers, and sincerely believes that these under mentioned agreements, if followed with a resolute mind, have potential to transform one’s life.

Transformation of Life

1.       Be impeccable with your word

Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of word in the direction of truth and love. 

2.       Don’t make assumptions

Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstanding, sadness and drama.  With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

3.       Don’t take anything personally

Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to their opinion and action of others, you won’t be the victim of needless sufferings. 

4.       Always do your best

Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be difficult when you are tired as opposed to well-rested. Under an y circumstances, simply do your best and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

Undoubtedly, a good harmony between conscious mind, subconscious mind and conscience brings veritable happiness and success in life with nothing to remorse and regret that further frees one from the tyranny of body and trivial desires.

 

Of Haunting Hunger

Right from birth to death, hunger continues to haunt man in one way or the other; it’s a cog in the wheel of life

By Mukesh Sharma

No living creature can beat it. None can conquer it. It is invincible. It is master of all the forms of life. All are its slave. Each and every living being knows it and experiences it. Be it king or commoner, all serve it alike without question. Yet it is unquenchable. It is undisputed and unchallenged ruler of the living world. From tiny protozoan to huge mammals, all work for it. Like God, it is omnipresent and all pervasive. It is basis of life on the earth. Even mother Nature nourishes the world through it. Of course, its name is Hunger – the haunting Hunger.

The Haunting Hunger

 

All through millions of years, it is the hunger that has developed a simple monkey into a present day complicated man. It is the hunger that has taken a savage man from cramped cave to commodious castle, from ordinary house to spacious bungalow, from bullock-cart to space satellite, and surprisingly enough, from Adam and Eve to nearly 7 billion populace on the earth.

Hunger has amazing dualistic character. Hunger is life as well as death – a crying baby is born with hunger and a decrepit man dies with hunger for ‘heaven’ on death-bed. Hunger is love as well as hate  – hunger for more and more ‘my’ – my kids, my house, my money, etc. is ‘love’ and hunger for dislike is hate. Hunger is progress as well as regress – hunger for betterment results in progress and hunger for other’s possessions leads to regress. Hunger is knowledge as well as ignorance – hunger to know the secrets of nature is knowledge and hunger for ego-serving is ignorance. Hunger is devotion as well as distraction – hunger for goal is devotion and hunger for the gratification of senses is distraction. Hunger is a man as well as woman – hunger of a man for a woman-body is man, hunger of a woman for a complete man is woman. Hunger is God as well as human – hunger beyond self is God and hunger for self is human. Like the imagination of a mind, hunger can be expanded to infinity and can be shrunk to a size of an atom. Hunger is both constructive and destructive.

Through human perspective, hunger can be divided into four categories:

1.       Physical hunger

2.       Psychological hunger

3.       Intellectual hunger

4.       Spiritual hunger

Physical hunger can be described as a natural or biological hunger – hunger for food and hunger for sex. It is common to all animals including man. Food is first priority and sex is next. Food is must to live and sex for the furtherance of progeny – both essential for the perpetuation of life on the earth.

Psychological hunger is a distorted hunger emanating from unbridled desires. A man turns epicurean or hedonistic seeking sensuous satisfaction – wine, woman and wealth – an insatiable lust. Fire can’t be extinguished with fire. The uncontrolled ‘hunger’ for wine, woman and wealth has been the cause of the downfall and doom of wealthiest emperor/knight/regimes.

Intellectual hunger is the hunger for the knowledge of the secrets of nature; it leads to discoveries and inventions. Credit for all kinds of advancement in human society so far goes to intellectual hunger only. It is this hunger that has produced great many philosophers, writers, poets and scientists -  Aristotle, Shakespeare, Kalidaas, Albert Einstein, Stephn Hawkings –  the list is very long.

Spiritual hunger is the hunger for the knowledge of unseen and unknown super natural power so named God. What is God? Where does God live? How to meet the God? All these intriguing questions have been nagging man since the advent of man on the earth. However, this spiritual hunger has blessed the world with Lord Rama - God incarnate, Lord Krishna - God incarnate, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammad and Guru Nanak; it has bestowed on timeless scriptures like The Upanishad, The Gita, The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, The Bible,  The Holy Quran, The Guru Granth Sahib.

Right from birth to death, hunger continues to haunt man in one or the other. Hunger is the cog in the wheel of life.