Unwrapping the 21st Century: Paramasoonyam

By Jose Puttanani

I was always fascinated by the following stanzas from the Upanishads, which is a marvellously condensed description of the nature of the wonder, that is the cosmos, in and around us.
POORNAMADA, POORNAMIDAM, POORNAT POORNAMMUDACHATE
POORNASYA POORNAMAADAAYA, POORNAM EVAVASHISYATE
(This is fullness, that is fullness; the fullness emerges out of the fullness. Even after taking the fullness out of the fullness, that which remains is still fullness.)
SHOONYAMADA, SHOONYAMIDAM, SHOONYAT SHOONYAMUDACHATE
SHOONYASYA SHOONYAMAADAAYA, SHOONYAM EVAVASHISYATE
(This is emptiness, that is emptiness, the emptiness emerges out of emptiness. Even after taking the emptiness out of emptiness, that which remains is still emptiness.)
When we ponder about the deeper meanings of these slokas, it comes clear that everything in and around us are full and empty at the same time. In simple words, everything is full with emptiness or empty in fullness. An atom is full because it stands and function independent, however the inside of the atom is empty except for the electrons spinning and the small nucleus in the middle. If we look at the universes surrounding us, it is full in its own glory and greatness, however empty except for the millions of relatively tiny stars scattered in the space.
It was this realisation that motivated me to title my blog page as Paramasoonyam – Absolute Emptiness – Omni¬presence. I have been publishing my philosophical insights on Facebook for three years now and this book is a collection of my thoughts published on Facebook. I have covered all subjects from spirituality, relationships, politics, education, community living, businesses and many such things. I present this book to the youth of the twenty-first century looking for happiness in the middle of millions of selfish forces pulling them into unhappiness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781471757372

Book preview

Paramasoonyam

Unwrapping the 21st Century

Jose Puttanani

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About author

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Jose Puttanani

Jose Puttanani was born as the fifth child of Puttananickal Philip and Rosa couple, at Mevada in Meenachil village, Kottayam District. He grew up sharing everyday struggles of the family in the middle of famines and political uncertainty in the post independent India. He started his school education at St Mathew’s Primary School Panthathala and did middle and high schooling at St Antony’s School Mutholy. Civil engineer by qualification and construction contract and procurement manager by profession, he has travelled around India and middle east before settling in Australia. Currently working with Queensland Government, Jose had worked with Indian, European, American and Australian construction companies during the last thirty years.

Married to Christina and proud father of four children, Jose Puttanani currently lives in Brisbane. Jose was motivated to writing from his experience in business writing and short stories.

Preface

I was always fascinated by the following stanzas from the Upanishads, which is a marvellously condensed description of the nature of the wonder, that is the cosmos, in and around us.

POORNAMADA, POORNAMIDAM, POORNAT POORNAMMUDACHATE

POORNASYA POORNAMAADAAYA, POORNAM EVAVASHISYATE

(This is fullness, that is fullness; the fullness emerges out of the fullness. Even after taking the fullness out of the fullness, that which remains is still fullness.)

SHOONYAMADA, SHOONYAMIDAM, SHOONYAT SHOONYAMUDACHATE

SHOONYASYA SHOONYAMAADAAYA, SHOONYAM EVAVASHISYATE

(This is emptiness, that is emptiness, the emptiness emerges out of emptiness. Even after taking the emptiness out of emptiness, that which remains is still emptiness.)

When we ponder about the deeper meanings of these slokas, it comes clear that everything in and around us are full and empty at the same time. In simple words, everything is full with emptiness or empty in fullness. An atom is full because it stands and function independent, however the inside of the atom is empty except for the electrons spinning and the small nucleus in the middle. If we look at the universes surrounding us, it is full in its own glory and greatness, however empty except for the millions of relatively tiny stars scattered in the space.

It was this realisation that motivated me to title my blog page as Paramasoonyam – Absolute Emptiness – Omnipresence. I have been publishing my philosophical insights on Facebook for three years now and this book is a collection of my thoughts published on Facebook. I have covered all subjects from spirituality, relationships, politics, education, community living, businesses and many such things. I present this book to the youth of the twenty-first century looking for happiness in the middle of millions of selfish forces pulling them into unhappiness.

Jose Puttanani

We all see ourselves as the most intelligent persons on earth. Just remember that the billions who walked on the surface of the earth before us and disappeared without leaving a trace, saw themselves in the same way.

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Known history is nothing but stories of rise and fall of empires. 20th century replaced kingdoms with corporations. 21st century will be the era for rise and fall of internet communities like Facebook.

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Guru is one who helps others to become wise and independent. If a guru likes people to follow and worship him on a pedestal, he is preaching ignorance and creating dependence. Such people are not gurus, they are called godmen.

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Stars and galaxies in our universe are like scattered dust in the grand scheme of the broad space. When our existence in such an infinitely large empty space is nothing, why are we treating ourselves as the most important in the universe?

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2% of humans, regardless of the colour of the skin, are criminals. What determines the fate of the society is the status of the criminals. If they are in jail, the result is a safe community. If they are in government or running businesses, it is called criminalised community.

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Objectives of education are to promote critical thinking for seeking truth, creativity for pursuing own dreams and developing skills for earning a livelihood. Mathematical formulae, scientific facts and historical events in the textbooks must be seen as tools for achieving these objectives.

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It is cruel to force children to carry school bags that weigh nearly half their bodyweight. Humans can lift weights upto 10% of the body weight only, without causing injury.

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The universe from the cosmic level to the spiritual and material level is perfectly in balance. Sin is a thought, word, action or behaviour that can cause imbalance in this cosmic, spiritual and material balance.

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Climate change is real. It is a fact that Climate has been changing since formation of water on earth and it will continue to change until our sun burns out.

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The only thing that is really our own that stays with us and ends with us is our dreams. Everything else is matter shared and recycled for millions of years and meant for sharing and recycling until time infinity.

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Selfishness is a law of nature. Everything made of matter, pulls everything in its reachable space into its nucleus and tries to hold on to it. Sharing is impossible. This is what we call selfish behaviour.

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Our psyche is made of an array of emotions like the elements of the elements table. Coming together of positive emotions produce happiness and combinations of negative emotions produce sadness. Life events play catalysts in bringing together the emotions. That is why we need to select communities and places that will act as catalysts for happiness.

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Revolutionary leaders of ancient times issued rules in the name God to keep the society together, which became rules of religion. Modern societies have democratic governments for setting rules for the welfare of communities.

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If beauty and money guaranteed success in marriage life, all the celebrity marriages should have lasted until the death of one of the couples.

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Learning is a cycle - observe, enquire, investigate, experiment, experience, articulate and then observe again and continue learning.

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We spend our time on earth chasing what we like. Tastes and choices vary from person to person and sometimes we find people chasing strange preferences. Such emotional and biological attachments extent to food, money, clothes, fame, friends, movies, etc. Worst cases are when people ask for more and more of negative emotions.

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Our biggest enemy is fear and best friend is experience.

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Communities that do not attach topmost priority on intellectual and skills development of their children will struggle to derive full benefit from all other investments.

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Religion is the result of man’s realization that material world does not pave way to God. Ironically today's managers of God's interests on earth have completely forgotten the spiritual path and are too much into the businesses of material world. They all claim that God will help humans to accumulate wealth of the material world if all say daily prayers.

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Seeds of discrimination of black colour was sawn when someone painted a devil in black and an angel in white. Religions perpetuated the discrimination by painting their places of worship with devils in black and angels in white.

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Only change is permanent is an age-old wisdom. Also true is the fact that opposition to change always comes from establishment. Western world does well in bringing change and managing change because of the individual freedom that frees people from establishment.

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All life forms on the surface of the earth starts from nothing and ends in nothing. End in nothing is same for all those have lived in nothing and those have left nothing for others.

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God, gods and saints are NOT people sitting in a remote place and controlling lives on earth with a remote-control following requests and offerings made in places of worship.

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The world is dotted with war memorials for remembering the hundreds of thousands of men and women who sacrificed their lives in defence of their homelands. Has anyone heard of a memorial for remembering the millions of ordinary people who suffered and died during and after wars?

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Efficiency in managing our daily routines make or break our day and ultimately our life. Anyone who plans his/her daily routines for higher productivity will end up progressive in life.

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Receiving money, award, recognition, prize, publicity, and the like is considered as an achievement. Giving money, award, recognition, prize, publicity, and the like is considered as an accomplishment. While achievement is at the cost of others who lost the competition, accomplishment brings benefits for all involved.

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If the advancement of the ancient Chinese, Indian, Babylonian, and Egyptian civilizations was not interrupted by the dark ages, humans would have reached into other galaxies by now.

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If the heavens are up above, it is certainly around and enveloping us, and in us, because of the geometry of the universe. So, if God is omnipresent, it is present in every molecule in the universe.

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Loss, fear, worry, despair, repentance are all cause of tears. It is better to shed tears of repentance occasionally to avoid many tears due to losses, fears, worries and despairs in the future.

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Child is not just father of man but teacher of man too. The man just needs to make himself humble enough to learn from the new generation growing right before his eyes.

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Thought of death is fearful if death is seen as loss of life and surrender of things considered as own. Thought of death is exciting, if it is accepted as freedom from things held closer and final accomplishment of life's purpose.

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Perfect health is efficient and harmonious functioning of all body parts. Humans apply the same principle when dealing with environmental issues. The same enlightened humans unfortunately treat human body with chemicals, which eventually leads to inefficiency and disharmony in the functioning of the human body. It is time to return to mother nature to become healthy.

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Knowing fully about self is; knowing how much we learned from text books, knowing how much we acquired from our parents and forefathers, knowing the traditions we follow unknowingly and knowing how much we learned during our own life experiences.

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Atrocities to Children:

1.      Depriving them of their right to play during their early childhood years.

2.      Forcing them to carry school bags that weigh close to their body weight.

3.      Making them TV addicts at an early age.

4.      Making them believe they are superior, or inferior compared to others.

5.      Impairing development of their motor coordination skills by helping them too much in their daily activities.

6.      Forcing them to learn complex theories by heart.

7.      Encouraging them to treat their parents like their servants.

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Persistence has the potential to deliver surprising and life changing outcomes.

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Character is what a person does when no one else is watching.

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Education that does not arm and armour a young person with the latest and current skills required for his/her future life, is not education.

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Profit in the modern world fuels development. On the other hand, profit breeds social disharmony by encouraging people to make money at the cost of others.

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Personal Integrity is maintaining agreement between thoughts, words and actions at all times.

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We all drag a heavy baggage of habits all the time with us slowing down, and sometimes tying down our growth and freedom. Success in life belong to those who are willing to challenge own habits.

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It is unlikely that religions will survive 21st century as forums for nurturing faith. It is very likely that religions will survive the century as businesses for selling Devine favours.

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If God allows changes in scientific, social, psychological and national laws and practices, why he should object to changing the religious rules and practices he has issued thousands of years ago?

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Religious faith is founded on miracles and holy books are filled with stories of miracles. Miracles that are claimed as results of religious faiths are laughing matters in today’s world. Religions must change with the times and bring spirituality in place of blind faith, to avoid becoming stories in comic books.

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If God created heaven and earth without a director board, employees, and brokers, he is very well confident of running our affairs without intermediaries. Places of worship and God’s intermediaries on earth are creations of men. Worship God in spirit and truth, not in written books and statues.

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Courage in physical activities is often lauded and publicised lot. However, the best form of courage is the ability to maintain integrity in personal life and transparency in interpersonal relationships, without surrendering own identity to others.

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‘What is truth?’ is an age-old question. The answer is simple. Only mathematics is true. Everything in the universe is founded on mathematical principles. The challenge is to identify all the variables in the function.

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Thank God, the superheroes exist only in story books. Experience tells us that gifted people with special skills mostly use their skills for selfish gains rather than helping ordinary people, contrary to the stories in comic books.

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There is nothing that can match the value of freedom. Freedom to think free, express free, work free and live free is priceless. The only condition that restricts freedom is the responsibility to respect freedom of others.

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It is true that religious leaders generally advocate virtuous living. At the same time virtues have no place in their private lives. What is more disappointing is that most of such preachers start or enter religious movements with noble intentions, but later change their ways. Is this because they realise that God is not powerful enough to punish them for their behaviours?

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If religious leaders and godmen seriously like to see their followers grow wise and free, they must ensure that they do not leave behind a hapless crowd of tomb worshippers.

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Development, happiness and prosperity in a community is a function of mutual respect and support to each other. Obviously, such qualities must be present in the smallest element of the community, called family, for the nation states to prosper.

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When we are in an open emptiness, we feel full of peace and energy. When we are in a closed emptiness, we feel full of fear and stillness.

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Personality is a combination of inherited, developed, and aspired personalities. When aspirations are built on inheritance and development, a megastructure