Grey hair and women

I had written in another blog about my dilemma: Whether to dye or not may hair. It doesnt matter much to me. I am already 37 - and a male!
I feel sorry for women with grey hair. It is distressing to see men almost ridicule young women (even around 35 years) if they have grey hair.
Today in the train, two youths were commenting about a woman (in her 30s) who had a few strands of grey hair. "She looks good, but for her hair has started greying." It was sickening.
One of my relatives (this was some time back) came crying to her mother's home as her husband had accused her of hiding the fact that her hair had started greying.
No one is bothered (except the person itself) when a man's hair greys. But the society seems to have a different yardstick for women.
While men are supposed to be young even when 40, women are supposed to be old if they cross 30. Why this attitude?

Treading on landmine

I feel the Mata is stepping into alien territory (read news item below). She should be careful if and when she does this. Both the LTTE and their Singhlalese counterparts believe in violence. And anyone found acting contrary to their interests is just eliminated. Of course, they wont do this to Mata, but she should realise what will happen if something goes wrong.

Amritananda Mayi willing to initiate peace talks in Sri Lanka

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 20 2005

Spiritual leader Mata Amritananda Mayi today said she was willing to initiate peace talks in Sri Lanka, if the people of the island nation asked.
During her three-day visit to Sri Lanka, the members of the warring groups had expressed a desire to resolve their conflict, she told reporters at the airport here on her return from Sri Lanka after a visit to the tsunami-hit areas of that country.
''I am not interested in interfering in the internal affairs of another country, but if they ask, I will discuss,'' she said.
''Both the LTTE soldiers and members of a Tamil Special Task Force came to meet me when I visited a tsunami-relief camp in Ampara.'' ''Their hearts were open and they told me that they wanted to become united, but that they have a goal to achieve,'' she said.
Mata Amritananda Mayi had offered Rs three crore as rehabilitation aid for tsunami victims in Sri Lanka, which included construction of 300 houses.
Since Indian laws did not allow direct assistance, the help would be routed through the Amritananda Mayi Mutt's foreign units.
She met Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunge. She said the President had expressed her concern regarding the intense strife and trouble plaguing her country.

The other side of SSB

I don’t have a high opinion of Sathya Sai Baba (SSB), but I have acknowledged his organisation’s efforts in service to humanity. There are allegations that these too are tailored to benefit SSB and his organization, but we should not consider this due to lack of proper evidence.
One more positive thing about him is the direction he has been giving to the youth. When just one bad friend is enough for a youth to go astray, SSB has been doing yeomen service in guiding the youth to the correct path.
Though other organizations such as the Chinmaya Mission, the Ramakrishna Math and the RSS doing a great job of guiding the youth, I am writing about SSB’s organization because of the negative image he has acquired.
One example of how the youth are benefiting from SSB’s influence is a guy of around 25 years in my flat. Satish says he came into contact with SSB’s organization a decade ago. I haven’t seen a more dedicated follower of a religious organization.
When many of us regard Sunday (or our weekly off) as a day to relax, he wakes up early (at around 4 am) and joins a group chanting bhajans. Later on you can find him distributing rice. He comes home, may be by noon. In the evening, he is off for bhajans/prayers again.
One day, he was coming back home at around 7 am. He said he was coming back from a Veda class. I remind you, he is just around 25.
Now, what makes me wonder is, a guru so powerful, who is able to drive such a devotion into the youth, who has millions of followers all over the world, does nothing to refute/deny allegations against him? The allegations, including sexcapades, against SSB can run into pages. All you have to do is to search for “Sathya Sai Baba is a fraud” in google, you can get thousands of pages. One of the sites that dutifully collects ‘evidence’ against SSB is exbaba.com.
But it is difficult to find any material from the SSB side which replies to these allegations. All you get are stories about miracles, how great he (SSB) is etc. There seems to be no attempt to counter these allegations.
The trouble with the followers (like Satish, for example) is that they regard their guru as God. And any troublesome question is dismissed with a report about some miracle(s) which ‘proves’ the Guru is God.
No attempt is made to logically explain why the allegations are wrong.
There is no point in saying “I am God. These allegations cannot do me anything”. SSB has a duty to explain. Because he is the guide to millions of innocent young devotees like Satish. And the guide HAS to be clean. So, he HAS to wash off the dirt on him.

Swamis and friends

Please dont read this if you dont like to read/discuss sex.
Once upon a time a guru and his disciple were about to cross a river. They saw a young woman who was struggling to cross the river. She had got totally drenched in her unsuccessful efforts.
The disciple felt scandalised. He quickly covered his eyes and swam across the river as fast as he could. But the enlightened guru went to the woman, lifted her and helped her cross the river. The woman thanked the guru and went away.
The disciple, who was watching this, was shell-shocked. After a lot of hesitation, he asked his guru. "How can you do this? We swamis are not supposed to even think about women. But you went to the extent of lifting the woman who was drenched. I never thought you would do such a thing!"
The guru said, "I left the woman on the river bank itself. Why are you still carrying her?"
The guru had helped her cross the river, and had forgotten about her immediately. But the disciple was still "carrying" her, i.e, thinking about the woman.
I dont know why male swamijis are not supposed to think about women and swaminis about men. I feel it is not wrong for them even if they think about sex. They must only ensure that they dont get carrried away by it.
Sex is a natural, biological feeling or need. If any person, including swamis and swaminis, try to suppress it, it will explode. Anything compressed/suppressed beyond a point is bound to burst.
If a particular mutt or ashram feels sex is likely to prevent God-realisation/enlightenment, it must devise ways to ensure this comes naturally to the person. If the person is told to repress sexual feelings, you will have Bhaktiswarups cropping up everywhere.
How do you feel when you get enlightened? Osho says it similar to what you feel when you reach the 'pinnacle' (orgasm) when having sex. You are totally oblivious to everything around you. You are in a totally different world.
I read an article in a magazine some years ago. It was about Raj Kapoor's films. The writer said one of the reasons for the success of his movies is that his heroines are not exposed fully. They are almost full clothed. Any exposure is only partial. And this exites the movie goer more. I dont know how far this is correct, but I agree with it.
Shobaa De, in her latest book, says men 'unashamedly' ogle at the Williams' sisters' knickers. What else are they supposed to do? Close their eyes and pray? It is time we accept sex and nudity, fully are partial. The more we try to supress or look the other way, the quicker is the road to the asylum.
The only thing we have to be careful, as the swami said in the story, dont carry things too far. Know where to put the full stop.
If you see a beautiful woman or a handome man, and if you close your eyes, there can be nothing more stupid.