Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Perpetual giving... or The infiniteness in expression


Its amazing, and really very much at that, how sometimes meaning and significance become clearer when they are superficially hidden. The seeming paradox that exists within this situation, may be resolved by invoking the rudimentary logic present in signal quantization error.

For the technologically averse, quantization error refers to the inaccuracies introduced into the analysis, when a naturally continuous signal, is represented in terms of a finite number of discrete values. To give a crude example, if I want to quantize values in the range 1-10, and allot values in steps of 1 (i.e. 0,1,2,...,9,10), then a value of 4.15 would be taken as 4, and thus incur a quantization error of 0.15.

Anyhow, returning to the case at hand.

Very often, things are best expressed by the seeming lack of tangible expression. I feel, at the risk of being snobbishly presumptuous, I have found the logic behind it, to some extent.

Universal expression (of which human expression is a subset) goes beyond the petty realms of words and their ilk. Words, are little more than a feeble attempt by our (relatively) handicapped selves, to give some emblance of meaning to the infinite wonders that surround us.

It is ironic, how when one feels helpless without a medium to express one's inner most feelings, it is words that come to one's rescue. It is words that enamour and court us at our every turn. A world without words becomes unimaginable, incoherent, and insane in its very conception.
However, in this whole process of growth and romance, unbeknownst to oneself, one becomes bound by the invisible, intangible boundaries of those very words.

However, all is still well and good. As in The Matrix, one remains comfortably numb, as long as one stays ignorant to this enchanting imprisonment.
THEN,
one day, the truth is revealed.
And from that day on, one traverses the length and breadth of one's campus, looking at EVERY single thing in a state of "to-the-world-inane", wonderstruck, amazement. Every SINGLE thing, from a coconut tree, to a dilapidated old building, to a smiling 4 year old kid, to even the carcass of a crow, tries to tell one SO much. So much, that one feels loved in a way never ever before. The cosmos seems like one song, made just for oneself.

One point worth noting here.
It is NOT, that one suddenly begins to understand all the messages one receives in this newly discovered dimension. Rather, one has JUST realized its presence. One knows of the existence of something vitally important being transmitted to oneself, but knows not what it means exactly. One's logical mind, in the backseat all along, quips in now and then, with mortal interpretations of the immaculate light all around. Feeble attempts these may be, but one is still overjoyed, to levels, and in ways unprecedented.

A statuatory disclaimer of sorts.
Words ARE important.
They are vital, in the way they give shape to an amorphous concept residing within oneself. They are important, because without a minimum degree of respectful adoration of words, it would perhap be difficult to 'graduate' to the next level. Of course, there ARE always the brilliant exceptions among us, who see the light even without the aid of words et al.
They, I believe, are truly, truly blessed.

Anyhow,
re-returning, to what this post was originally supposed to convey.
The 1st pic is of an inscription by Tagore, and the 2nd is the same stone at night, PARTIALLY illuminated by a street light standing in the distance, knowing nothing of its superlative contribution.

"Perpetual giving up is the truth of life"
becomes
"Perpetual giving"

And therein, lies the point elaborated upon till now.
Giving (up), is all there is (with all due respect to Ayn Rand).
It is not "the truth of life", it is in fact everything, to the extent of rendering everything else, null and gloriously void.

And it is when one is left in that state of seeming incompleteness, and surrounded by a million resounding elements united in their silence, that one's belief in the infiniteness of expression is born, reborn, and relived.

Perpetual giving

3 comments:

Avik Saha said...

'To give a crude example, if I want to quantize values in the range 1-10, and allot values in steps of 1 (i.e. 0,1,2,...,9,10)' - how does 0 come in the range 1-10? ;-)

Avik Saha said...

Nice thought.

Akshay Madan said...

The meaning of this quote in the words of Tagore himself... "Brahma, in his negative qualities, is quiescent. Brahma, in his positive qualities, acts upon all time. He is the poet, he uses mind as his instrument, he reveals himself in limits, the revelation which comes out of his abundance of joy and not from any outside necessity. There-fore it is he who can fulfill our needs through endless years by giving himself.
From this we find our ideal. Perpetual giving up is the truth of life. The perfection of this is our life's perfection. We are to make this life our poem in all its expressions ; it must be fully suggestive of our soul which is infinite, not merely of our possessions which have no meaning in themselves. The consciousness of the infinite in us proves itself by our joy in giving ourselves out of our abundance. And then our work is the process of our renunciation, it is one with our life. It is like the flowing of the river, which is the river itself."

Cheers to South Park!

Q. - While people will always act within the bounds of human nature -- good people being good and bad people being bad, it takes religion to make good people bad.

A. - "Well, many religions also give people good reasons NOT to do bad things. And while people may do terrible things in the name of religion or via religion, they may have well still done them without the religion there -- it's just a justification provided for a choice already made."

-- Matt Stone & Trey Parker
(From South Park FAQ's)

Bet you didn't expect THIS from the ones who made Cartman and the gang! :)

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