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The barber-shop allergy:
http://gpsastry.blogspot.com/2011/12/allergy.html
that laid me low last night was relieved by a single antihistamine pill that my son shoved down my throat at about 5 in the morning. I woke up at midday after a total blackout for a record 7 hours. And those lines of the Ancient Mariner were ringing in my ears. And that made me think of the Praise Technology of which I was a keen student and occasionally practitioner all along.
As is the custom of Indian wise men like Vatsyayan the first thing to do in any technology is to classify; a la Lachrymal Taxonomy:
http://gpsastry.blogspot.com/search?q=taxonomy
So, here we go:
1. Praise Generic:
There is only ONE Being on whom we can shower absolute praise for all created things. He or She or even It is the Almighty who is severally called God, Allah, or Paramatman or their various synonyms. Such praises, mostly in exalted verse, are called hymns.
Here is a sample from the Svetasvatara Upanishad (English rendering by S. Radhakrishnan):
Oh, sleep! it is a gentle thing
Beloved from pole to pole!
To Mary Queen the praise be given
She sent the gentle sleep from Heaven
That slid into my soul...
....Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Beloved from pole to pole!
To Mary Queen the praise be given
She sent the gentle sleep from Heaven
That slid into my soul...
....Rime of the Ancient Mariner
The barber-shop allergy:
http://gpsastry.blogspot.com/2011/12/allergy.html
that laid me low last night was relieved by a single antihistamine pill that my son shoved down my throat at about 5 in the morning. I woke up at midday after a total blackout for a record 7 hours. And those lines of the Ancient Mariner were ringing in my ears. And that made me think of the Praise Technology of which I was a keen student and occasionally practitioner all along.
As is the custom of Indian wise men like Vatsyayan the first thing to do in any technology is to classify; a la Lachrymal Taxonomy:
http://gpsastry.blogspot.com/search?q=taxonomy
So, here we go:
1. Praise Generic:
There is only ONE Being on whom we can shower absolute praise for all created things. He or She or even It is the Almighty who is severally called God, Allah, or Paramatman or their various synonyms. Such praises, mostly in exalted verse, are called hymns.
Here is a sample from the Svetasvatara Upanishad (English rendering by S. Radhakrishnan):
Thou art woman, Thou art man
Thou art the youth and the maiden too
Thou, as an old man tottereth along with a staff
Being born, Thou faceth in every direction
Thou art the dark-blue bird
Thou art the youth and the maiden too
Thou, as an old man tottereth along with a staff
Being born, Thou faceth in every direction
Thou art the dark-blue bird
Thou art the green parrot with red eyes
Thou art the cloud with lightning in its womb
Thou art the cloud with lightning in its womb
Thou art the seasons and the seas
Having no beginning Thou abideth through omnipresence
Thou from whom all the worlds are born
2. Praise Specific:
Of all religions, Hinduism is most suited to this category of praise...we have hundreds of gods and goddesses and there are more than hundred Sthotras (Praises) in fantastic Sanskrit verses e.g. Mahishasura Mardani Sthotram by Adi Shankara:
"If it is a wrong number, why did you lift it?"
This is done one-on-one by admiring looks bordering on ogling.
But I don't recommend it since there is a fifty-fifty chance of getting the bird...
Having no beginning Thou abideth through omnipresence
Thou from whom all the worlds are born
Next to the Almighty, it is the Emperors that deserve such generic praise, demand, and get it.
Queen Victoria, the longest reigning woman of the biggest-ever empire, had an all-encompassing range of interests. She liked 'Alice in Wonderland' so much that she summoned and demanded Lewis Carroll why he didn't dedicate it to Her Majesty, and wanted his next book to be dedicated to her without fail...and it turned out to be the 'Theory of Determinants'.
She also wanted to learn Pure Mathematics and engaged a famous mathematician to coach her at home. And when he started with the 'infinitesimal', she admonished him saying she knows all about the infinitesimal...she sees it everyday in her courtiers. So she wanted to be told about the 'infinite' instead.
She also wanted to learn Pure Mathematics and engaged a famous mathematician to coach her at home. And when he started with the 'infinitesimal', she admonished him saying she knows all about the infinitesimal...she sees it everyday in her courtiers. So she wanted to be told about the 'infinite' instead.
2. Praise Specific:
Of all religions, Hinduism is most suited to this category of praise...we have hundreds of gods and goddesses and there are more than hundred Sthotras (Praises) in fantastic Sanskrit verses e.g. Mahishasura Mardani Sthotram by Adi Shankara:
But, in the temporal world as opposed to the spiritual, one has to be careful in applying this technology. Any mistake will do more harm than good.
For instance, suppose we have a new Director and I am an outgoing Dean who however craves an extension badly. If I don't do my homework properly and just hear that my new boss is a physics guy and start praising String Theory instead of his expertise which happens to be Thin Films, I will be surely booted out.
Sometimes this misapplication of Praise Specific can lead to funny contretemps.
Sometimes this misapplication of Praise Specific can lead to funny contretemps.
Towards my last days at KGP there was this phone call from a newly-appointed Calcutta Boss of a reputed Center who called me up and introduced himself. I guessed there must have been a cross-connection. But I kept listening to him just for the fun of it. He told me that he got to learn that I have invited Russi Mody for a get-together in my Department. And he said many good things about my guest and me. And wanted to cadge an invitation to the gathering since he was an ardent admirer of the ex-Boss of Tata Empire. After a good 2 minutes I had to tell him that he was talking to the wrong, though the seniormost, Sastry.
This reminded me of the Thurber tall-tale where his stern aunt rebuked the stranger:
This reminded me of the Thurber tall-tale where his stern aunt rebuked the stranger:
"If it is a wrong number, why did you lift it?"
3. Praise Mutual:
This belongs to the coterie of unofficial yet all-pervasive Club called Society of Mutual Admiration. All MSMAs abide by an unwritten code that everyone has to participate in a healthy framework where criticism is allowed provided it is 'constructive' and 'healthy'. These clubs are very unlike the Rotary-Lions Types where membership is official and paid for and there are Buildings that house them. Here the congregations look very spontaneous and almost fortuitous.
This belongs to the coterie of unofficial yet all-pervasive Club called Society of Mutual Admiration. All MSMAs abide by an unwritten code that everyone has to participate in a healthy framework where criticism is allowed provided it is 'constructive' and 'healthy'. These clubs are very unlike the Rotary-Lions Types where membership is official and paid for and there are Buildings that house them. Here the congregations look very spontaneous and almost fortuitous.
During our times when Harrys was small and had cement benches, you could see these get-togethers. It never happens that a lone member arrives there. It is always a minimum of two, for reasons of exclusivity. And as they 'occupy' a designated bench, and order tea and samose', others arrive one by one almost casually and join the cream. Anyone who barges in uninvited has to be willing to subject himself to an informal but tough entrance test...he should have an intimate knowledge of the 'inner' works.
4. Praise Self:
I have already talked about this variety towards the end of my earlier post: Halls of Fame.
When no one praises us and we badly want to lift up our sagging spirits, we have to resort to this by latching on to one or more innocent friends and hammering them. But we have to be prepared to foot the bill, both temporal and spiritual.
RKN wrote that he used to collect half a dozen youthful friends of his and lead them to the nearest 'coffee hotel' and read out aloud his poems like the Divine Music before coffee was served all around at his expense. And all of them praised the poem in as many words as they could muster.
Married folks have an advantage here...they can collar their conjugal partners and hammer them...they have a 'captive' audience. The flip side is that they have to be at the wrong end of the stick later in the night when all they wish is to desperately fall into the lap of the Gift of Mother Mary mentioned above. They should be prepared to be administered loving caresses of the hard kind:
"O go Shuncho tho!"
4. Praise Self:
I have already talked about this variety towards the end of my earlier post: Halls of Fame.
When no one praises us and we badly want to lift up our sagging spirits, we have to resort to this by latching on to one or more innocent friends and hammering them. But we have to be prepared to foot the bill, both temporal and spiritual.
RKN wrote that he used to collect half a dozen youthful friends of his and lead them to the nearest 'coffee hotel' and read out aloud his poems like the Divine Music before coffee was served all around at his expense. And all of them praised the poem in as many words as they could muster.
Married folks have an advantage here...they can collar their conjugal partners and hammer them...they have a 'captive' audience. The flip side is that they have to be at the wrong end of the stick later in the night when all they wish is to desperately fall into the lap of the Gift of Mother Mary mentioned above. They should be prepared to be administered loving caresses of the hard kind:
"O go Shuncho tho!"
5. Praise Silent:
This is done one-on-one by admiring looks bordering on ogling.
But I don't recommend it since there is a fifty-fifty chance of getting the bird...
...Posted by Ishani
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