u/Deb_swain

Bulla ki jaana main kaun?

In eighteenth‑century Punjab, Baba Bulleh Shah was a renowned Sufi saint‑poet. He was born into a Sayyid family a Muslim lineage believed to be connected to the Prophet Muhammad’s family and considered religiously and socially prestigious at that time.

But in Baba Bulleh Shah’s poetry we find a questioning of defining oneself on the basis of identities received by birth. His kafis challenge the boundaries created by religion, caste, ritual, and social divisions.

Out of this same stance emerged his famous kalam:

Bulla ki jaana main kaun-

In this kalam, Baba Bulleh Shah keeps rejecting, one by one, the identities through which human beings usually define themselves:

Na main momin vich masitaan

Na main vich kufr diyan reetaan

Na main andar ved-kitaaban

Na vich bhangan, na sharaaban

I am not a believer in the mosques.

I am not in the rituals of disbelief.

I am not within the Vedas or the holy books.

I am not in bhang, nor in wine.

Bulla ki jaana main kaun

The very identities that Baba Bulleh Shah rejects one by one are the ones we usually use to give form to our I.

I belong to such‑and‑such community, I’m Indian, a doctor, someone’s son, someone’s brother, a husband, a father We carry many such ready‑made answers to describe who we are.

None of these identities is a problem in itself. The problem begins when a role turns into our very sense of self.

Most of these identities are not even chosen by us. They are given by family, society, culture, and circumstances. Yet gradually we own them so completely that it starts to feel as if: this is what I am.

Then, if any of these identities is questioned, it feels as if we are being questioned. If they are criticized, it feels like we have been insulted. If their status is raised, it feels like our worth has increased.

Bulleh Shah’s kalam brings this psychological confusion to light. He does not pick up any new identity; he simply keeps removing, one by one, every borrowed identity and asks: if not this eithe then who am I?

This is precisely where the ego becomes uncomfortable. Because the moment the identities behind which it hides its incompleteness are removed, that very incompleteness begins to show.

Bulleh Shah does not arrive at any conclusion. He only goes on rejecting every second‑hand introduction. What remains in the end is not a claim to some new identity, but that same humble admission: “Bulla ki jaana main kaun..Bulla, I know not who I am.

For Baba Bulleh Shah, Who am I? remains an open question. Why does it become so necessary for us to fix some definite answer about ourselves?

Source:

Bulleh Shah, Kafiyaan (18th century)

Song - Bulla Ki Jaana Main Kaun

The promise of development has always been tied to the idea of a livable planet. But is this promise being seen in reality? In the name of growth, nations have expanded industry, intensified agriculture, built massive cities, and scaled up CONSUMPTION to such an extent that the natural foundations of life are being damaged faster than they can recover.

In modern times,
Development = The ability to consume more than others

Around 90 percent of people globally live with at least one major environmental stressor such as degraded land, polluted air, or water stress. In low-income countries, nearly 80 percent of people face all three simultaneously, compared to about 43 percent in high-income countries who face none.

The change in the proportion of species on Earth is equally dramatic. Before the Industrial Revolution, wild mammals made up roughly 50 percent of mammalian biomass and today they are for only 5 percent, with humans and domesticated animals make up 95 percent.

Furthermore,
Rising GDP per capita = Acceleration of species extinction
This is not just a mere correlation, there’s a causation behind it

The planet has been reorganized around human consumption. In response, governments are working on policy solutions which are important. However, these solutions often address symptoms rather than causes. They aim to make development more efficient, but rarely question the underlying assumption that consumption must keep expanding.

Does development only means increased consumption?
The answer to this requires a deeper enquiry, the root of the crisis lies in the psychological hunger found only in human beings. Other animals have a physical hunger which can be satiated by the planet. The evidence of this lies in the fact that even dinosaurs, which were much bigger than humans, didn’t cause climate change. The reason is simple, it’s not the size of the species, rather a psychological hunger which causes climate change. And since this hunger is psychological, even the entire planet falls short of resources to satiate it.

Humanity is already consuming resources at a rate about 70 percent higher than what the Earth can sustainably regenerate and aspirations globally is to aim or consumption patterns seen in the richest countries.

So the real challenge is not only external but internal. A livable future requires both policy reform and a transformation in human consciousness.
Development must therefore be redefined. It cannot mean endless growth in material consumption. It must mean alignment with ecological limits and a deeper understanding of what constitutes a good life. Without this shift, progress will remain self-defeating.

A truly livable planet will emerge not just from better systems, but from an individual with clarity, because it’s the individual who consumes.

Based on Reboot Development: The Economics of a Livable Planet

Something happens. Then the mind immediately gives it a meaning.

Soon, we forget that we supplied the meaning and treat our interpretation as the fact.

And then begins the argument. 😅

Ever looked back at a fight and realised you were reacting more to your own interpretation than to what actually happened?

A recent report on Thailand caught my attention after another deadly school shooting. Thailand is estimated to have around 10.3 million civilian firearms, roughly 15 for every 100 people, although these figures come from the Small Arms Survey’s 2017 estimates.

But then I looked at the global numbers and Thailand isn’t even close to the top. The United States was estimated at 120.5 guns per 100 people which is the highest in the world. Globally, the Small Arms Survey estimated 857 million firearms in civilian hands in 2017.

Lately, we have become extraordinarily intelligent at creating power. Guns, nuclear weapons, drones, AI, increasingly sophisticated technology. But has the human being holding all this power become equally intelligent about anger, fear, insecurity, hatred, revenge and the desire to dominate?

That’s where self-knowledge stops sounding like abstract spirituality to me. If I don’t understand my fear, insecurity & desire for power then these greater technological power will make things worse.

A weapon doesn’t wake up angry one morning. The human mind uses it. Of course laws, gun control, policing and mental-health interventions matter enormously. But if the mind itself remains frightened, violent and unconscious of its own tendencies, won’t it keep finding new instruments through which to express that violence?

Source:- https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cevml4701emo

Video captured by @jdaniel_photography on IG. Source.

There’s a beautiful scene in “Young Sheldon” where his philosophy teacher tells the class an old story about the Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi.

He once dreamed that he was a butterfly, happily flying around, completely unaware of being Zhuangzi. Then he woke up and wondered Was I Zhuangzi dreaming that I was a butterfly, or am I a butterfly now dreaming that I am Zhuangzi?

Sheldon immediately finds it ridiculous. Obviously he is awake. Obviously he knows who he is. But then comes the dangerous little question philosophy loves to throw at our certainties .. How do you know? After all, while dreaming, don’t we often feel equally certain that what is happening is real?

For me, the interesting part isn’t whether life is literally a dream. It’s how easily we say “I know.”
I know who I am. I know what will make me happy. I know what kind of career I need. I know what relationships should look like. I know what success means. But how much of this have I actually examined, and how much came from family, society, memory, fear and conditioning?

Yeah surely don’t need to doubt everything.
But every once in a while, it might be worth becoming Sheldon in that classroom and asking this
Wait… how do I actually know this?

I recently got Acharya Prashant’s children’s book “Tree” and honestly, I didn’t expect my child to connect with it this much.

He loves the pictures and keeps going back to them. But what I find more beautiful is that he is slowly beginning to understand something very simple: a tree isn’t just something standing outside our window. It gives us so much and it is also home to birds, insects and other animals.

Now when we talk about cutting trees, he understands that it isn’t just about losing a piece of wood. Something living is lost and many other beings lose their home too. He has become obsessed with nest and keeps searching for it in every tree.

I think this kind of sensitivity is much more valuable than giving children lectures about “saving the environment.” I personally think it’s important to let children develop this connection before nature becomes just another topic in a textbook.

We spend so much time thinking about our children’s education, school, career and future. But what kind of future are we preparing them for if the world around them keeps losing its trees, wildlife, clean air and natural spaces?

Has anyone else tried AP’s books with their children?

I'd like to say I planned this shot, but I'm not that smart.

Edit: based on the time of the photo, this would have been flight BA8466 from Ibiza