A Social Experiment - $32 and some pennies

Introducing Joshua Bell, a world-class violin virtuoso from the United States. In this video, he showcases Bach's Chaconne with his 1713 Stradivarius, reportedly worth $3.5 million.

In the following video, Joshua shares his view on how simple music is often difficult to express due to its nuance:





On Friday, January 12, 2007, in the middle of the morning rush hour, Bell with his Stradivarius played incogito in a metro station. In the next 43 minutes, as the violinist performed six classical pieces, 1,097 people passed by. He began with Bach's "Chaconne" and in the end, made a grand total of $32.17.

During his performance, the only one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy, but his mother tugged and eventually dragged him away. The boy looked back several times at Joshua but to no avail.
The same was repeated by other children passing by.





I am uncertain what this social experiment means as opinions differ.

However, I guess it is safe to say that innocence, purity and the perception of beauty are not too far apart.

And we were once children, were we not?

What is Dukkha?

What is Dukkha? No, it's not Ducca, a popular Italian restaurant & bar in San Francisco.  

From Wikipedia, the etymology for the word is: 

The ancient Aryans who brought the Sanskrit language to India were a nomadic, horse- and cattle-breeding people who travelled in horse- or ox-drawn vehicles. Su and dus are prefixes indicating good or bad. The word... kha, in later Sanskrit meaning 'sky,' 'ether,' or 'space,' was originally the word for 'hole,' particularly an axle hole of one of the Aryan's vehicles. Thus sukha … meant, originally, 'having a good axle hole,' while duhkha meant 'having a poor axle hole,' leading to discomfort.

LA TONTERIA

Now here we have a picture of "a poor hole which leads to discomfort."

My question is this: "Is this case of Dukkha necessary for both parties?"

While Existential boredom and pain is real and unavoidable,  as human,

unnecessary suffering such as this should always, always be... optional.

 

Gayatri Mantra - The Song of Spiritual Light

Gayatri Mantra: (the Mother Mantra)

Oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
tát savitúr váreniyaṃ
bhárgo devásya dhīmahi
dhíyo yó naḥ pracodáyāt


General Translation:

I invoke the Earth Plane, The Astral Plane, The Celestial Plane, The Plane of Spiritual Balance, The Plane of Human Spiritual Knowledge, The Plane of Spiritual Austerites, and The Plane of Ultimate Truth. Oh, great Spiritual Light which is the brilliance of all Divinity, we meditate upon You. Please illuminate our minds and reveal the Reality.

Syllable Translation:

Om: Para Brahman
Bhur: The Physical plane
Bhuvah: The Astral plane
Svaha: The Celestial plane
Tat: Ultimate Reality
Savitur: The Source of All
Varenyam: Fit to be worshiped
Bhargo: The Spiritual effulgence
Devasya: Divine Reality
Dhimahi: We meditate
Dhiyo: Intellect
Yo: Which
Nah: Our
Prachodayat: Enlightenment