Suresh Chandrasekaran's Blog

Freedom from the pair of opposites is a phrase that resonates specifically through Indian philosophy. The most common opposites that are mentioned are Pleasure-Pain, Comfort-Discomfort, Victory-Defeat, Honor-Disgrace, Attachment-Aversion etc. AND, yes, to those who would contend that happiness IS a goal for humans, and to be indifferent to Joy and Sorrow is ceasing to really live, the reply is

Sometimes, phlilosophers seem to attribute magical powers to character traits. It's as though they think that, say, perseverance is like a magic wand that can blaze a path to success; that politeness is a trick of mesmerism that will convert foes to friends; that...oh, well, I suppose you know all that. The fact that almost ALL philosophers do that leads you to think that there must be some

The point of all philosophy is to motivate you in the right direction. (What is the right direction? The direction that the philosopher prefers, of course. I mean, really, do you expect a Karl Marx to teach you how to become a Warren Buffet?) Quite naturally, they have a very high opinion of motivation...as in, the importance of your being motivated to do what you set out OR what they push you to

Like I keep lamenting, philosophers very seldom give pleasant advice. Much like dieticians. I mean, ever heard of a dietician tell you that the route to a size zero figure lies through a pastry shop? That gorging on cakes would help you to a slimmer future? Much like that, if you go to a philosopher hoping that he'd say that a 'eat, drink and be merry' lifestyle is the mantra for success, you are

There is always something uncomfortable about philosophers. They tend to hold uncomfortable mirrors to you and seem to revel in your embarrassment. It is especially true of long dead philosophers. You don't really know enough about them and cannot say,"So what about you? YOU do not measure up, too, because of this that or the other." AND, of course, they are not around to be trolled and feel hurt

I have seen a lot of 'either-or' types of arguments especially in the recent past. The sort of things that existed exclusively in debating competitions has seeped out into Society at large. The subject of today is also likely to be a subject of such 'either-or' debates. What is important - benevolence or productive efforts?Tiru, as you probably know, has in a Kural already said that the 'sanyasis

To be honest, it is easy for people to say 'Do what you love and you will never work a day of your life'. You think that you love music and if you become a musician, life will be a bed of roses from then on? Like, a Taylor Swift or Rihanna or whomsoever never faced a day when they thought of abandoning what they were doing and running away? Composing music in your attic (Well, you know,

In the days when I was avidly looking for and reading those self-improvement books (Till I decided that I cannot improve myself? Yes. So?), I was looking for that magic pill that would make me into a whole new me without much effort on my part. What I now think is that this whole business of self-improvement hinges on the idea that people are always looking for a magic wand type of solution to

There are such a lot of things that will bring about your downfall if you forget them. The way things are, there seems to be no joy in achieving success. I mean, it is all very well to succeed but all these guys cluster around you screaming about how difficult it is to retain the success you have achieved with such difficulty. What's the point in huffing and puffing up the mountain only to be

A man is known by the company he keeps. This seems to be a common belief in almost every society. After all, it is easier to identify a person as belonging to a community than to assess his individual character. AND if you assess a community as having a certain type of character, then you just merrily judge the individual based on his community. Voila, it obviates any need to judge the individual