Socrates and Talmud

A Harvard scholar, Mr. Sean Goldstein approaches a learned Rabbi telling him that he has a Doctorate in philosophy, and would now like to learn the Talmud to round off or complete his knowledge. After summing him up for a few minutes, the Rabbi told him " I seriously doubt that you are ready to study Talmud. It’s the deepest book of our people. If you wish however I am willing to examine you in logic, and if you pass the test I will teach you Talmud. "

The young man agrees. Rabbi holds up two fingers " Two men come down a chimney. One comes with a clean face and the other comes out with a dirty face. Which one washes his face?

The young man stares at the Rabbi. "Is that a test in Logic?” The Rabbi nods.

"The one with the dirty face washes his face" He answers wearily.

"Wrong. The one with the clean face washes his face. Examine the simple logic. The one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his face is clean. The one with the clean face looks at the one with the dirty face and thinks his face is dirty. So the one with the clean face washes his face."

"Very clever" Says Goldstein. . "Give me another test"

The Rabbi again holds up two fingers " Two men come down a chimney. One comes out with a clean face and the other comes out with a dirty face. which one washes his face?

"We have already established that. The one with the clean face washes his face"

"Wrong. Each one washes his face. Examine the simple logic. The one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his face is clean. The one with the clean face looks at the one with the dirty face and thinks his face is dirty. So the one with the clean face washes his face. When the one with the dirty face sees the one with the clean face washing his face, he also washes his face. So each one washes his face"

"I didn't think of that!" Says Goldstein. " It’s shocking to me that I could make an error in logic. Test me again!."

The Rabbi holds up two fingers " Two men come down a chimney. One comes out with a clean face and the other comes out with a dirty face. Which one washes his face?

"Each one washes his face"

"Wrong. Neither one washes his face. Examine the simple logic. The one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his face is clean. The one with the clean face looks at the one with the dirty face and thinks his face is dirty. But when the one with clean face sees that the one with the dirty face doesn't wash his face, he also doesn't wash his face So neither one washes his face"

Goldstein is desperate. "I am qualified to study Talmud. Please give me one more test"

He groans when the Rabbi lifts his two fingers "Two men come down a chimney. One comes out with a clean face and the other comes out with
a dirty face. Which one washes his face?

"Neither one washes his face"

"Wrong. Do you now see, Sean, why Socrates logic is an insufficient basis for studying the Talmud? Tell me, how is it possible for two men to come down the same chimney, and for one to come out with a clean face and the other with a dirty face? Don’t you see? The whole question is narishkeit - foolishness - and if you spend your life trying to answers foolish questions, all your answers will be foolish."

Scarcity Thinking and Traps

Some of the other common mental traps we fall into because of scarcity thinking ....

* Everyone wants to be a star

* Everyone's in it for the money

*If it isn't a hit, it's a miss

*The only success is mass success

*"Direct to video"= bad

* "Self-published" =bad

*"Independent" = "They couldn't get a deal"

*Amateur=Amateurish

*Low-selling=low-quality

*If it were good, it would be popular

Adapted from Chris Anderson's - the Long tail.

Communism and Free-Market

During the Cold war, from 1958 to 1988 , some 50000 Soviet citizens traveled to the US, most touring an American supermarket on their trip. The supermarket showcased how a free-market economy could deliver abundant, affordable food and became a metaphor forf what capitalism could do and comunism could not. In his autobiography, Bois Yeltsin gave this account of his 1989 vist to a supermarket in Houston: "When I saw those shelves crammed with hundreds, thousands of cans, cartons , and goods of every possible sort, for the first time I felt quite frankly sick with desair for the Soviet people. That such a potentially super-rich country as ours has been brought to a state of such poverty! IT is terrible to think of it"

-Adapted from the Long Tail - by Chris Anderson (page 45)

The bullfrog and Rama

When Rama and Lakshmana went to take their bath in the Pampa lake, they thrust their bows into the ground. Coming out of the water, Lakshmana took out his bow and found its tip stained with blood.Rama said to him "Look Brother, Look! Perhaps we have hurt some creature ".  Lakshmana dug the earth and found a big bull frog. It was dying . Rama said to the frog in a sorrowful voice "Why didn't you croak ? We should have tried to save you . You croak lustily enough when you are in the jaws of a snake ."  The frog said " O! Lord when I am attacked by the snake  I croak saying "O! Rama save me!". This time I found that it was Rama himself who was killing me ; so I kept still."

Ad from: The gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

M or C?

The Master was saying: ‘Why does a man behave like a young monkey and not like a kitten? The monkey has to cling to its mother by its own efforts as she moves around. But the kitten just goes on mewing until its mother comes and picks it up by the scruff of its neck. The young monkey sometimes loses its hold on its mother; then it falls and is badly hurt. But the kitten is in no such danger, because the mother herself carries it from place to place. That’s the difference between trying to do something for yourself and giving yourself up to the will of God.’

My Lord!! Save me....

I would ride again, into the highest hills, up the pitch of a mountainside, where green leaves quiver in the cold sun - Lance Armstrong - Its not about the Bike (page 294)

(page 271)

A man is caught in the flood, and as the water rises he climbs to the roof of his house and waits to be rescued. A guy in a motorboat comes by and says "hop in, i'll save you".

"no thanks" the man on the rooftop says "my lord will save me". but the floodwaters keep rising. A few minutes later a rescue plane flies overhead and the pilot drops a line.

"No thanks" the man on the rooftop says, "My lord will save me?". But the floodwaters rise ever higher and finally they overflow the roof and the man drowns. When he gets ot heaven, he confronts God.

"My Lord, why didn't you save me?" he implores.

"you idiot", God says. " I sent you a boat, I sent you a plane."

I think in a way we are all just like the guy on the rooftop. Things take place, there is a confluence of events and circumstances and we can't always know their purpose, or even if there is one, but we can take responsibility for ourselves and be brave.

Swami Viveknanada on Unconditional Love

I once had a friend who grew to be very close to me. Once when we were sitting at the edge of a swimming pool, she filled the palm of her hand with a little water and held it before me, and said this: “You see this water carefully contained on my hand? It symbolizes Love.”This was how I saw it: “As long as you keep your hand caringly open and allow it to remain there, it will always be there. However, if you attempt to close your fingers round it and try to posses it, it will spill through the first cracks it finds.

This is the greatest mistake that people do when they meet love…they try to posses it, they demand, they expect… and just like the water spilling out of your hand, Love will retrieve from you. For love is meant to be free, you cannot change its nature. If there are people you love, allow them to be free beings. Give and don’t expect. Advise, but don’t order. Ask, but never demand. It might sound simple, but it is a lesson that may take a lifetime to truly practice. It is the secret to true love.

To truly practice it, you must sincerely feel no expectations from those who you love, and yet an unconditional caring.”