Krishnan

Freedom is what we do with what is done to us.

– Jean Paul Sartre

Mental models are to your brain as apps are to your smartphone.
Jayme Hoffman

Space is motionless, pure, and clean. In the same way, Parabrahman (Absolute Reality) is clean, pure and motionless. In this Parabrahman was born the power “to know.” Brahman, or Atman, means knowing oneself. Moolamaya (Primordial Illusion), etc., are merely names. Some say that space is Brahman. Awareness has many names like Ishwara, Atman, Shiva, etc. But its true nature is Parabrahman. It has no name. That is why it is said to be beyond Brahman (Para means beyond). The impulse of Awareness is the Primordial Illusion. Everything except Parabrahman has names, and everything that has a name, perishes. Whatever has a name does not have a permanent existence, and therefore, it is absolutely false.
Shri Siddharameshwar Maharaj, Book “Amrut Laya”

Vaishnava Jana To: Lyrics and Meaning

Gujarati	Devanagari	IAST Transliteration	Translation
વૈષ્ણવ જન તો તેને કહિયે જે પીડ પરાઈ જાણે રે પર દુ:ખે ઉપકાર કરે તો યે મન અભિમાન ન આણે રે. ॥ધૃ॥	वैष्णव जन तो तेने कहिये जे पीड परायी जाणे रे । पर दुःखे उपकार करे तो ये मन अभिमान न आणे रे ॥	vaiṣṇava jana to tene kahiye je pīḍa parāyī jāṇe re, para duḥkhe upakāra kare to ye mana abhimāna na āṇe re	Call those people Vaishnavas who Feel the pain of others, Help those who are in misery, But never let self-conceit enter their mind.
સકળ લોકમાં સહુને વંદે, નિંદા ન કરે કેની રે વાચ કાછ મન નિર્મળ રાખે ધન ધન જનની તેની રે. ॥૧॥	सकळ लोकमां सहुने वंदे, निंदा न करे केनी रे । वाच काछ मन निश्चळ राखे, धन धन जननी तेनी रे ॥	sakaḷa loka māṁ sahune vande, nindā na kare kenī re, vāca kācha mana nischala raakhe, dhana dhana jananī tenī re	They respect the entire world, Do not disparage anyone, Keep their words, actions and thoughts pure, The mother of such a soul is blessed.
સમદૃષ્ટિ ને તૃષ્ણા ત્યાગી પરસ્ત્રી જેને માત રે જિહ્વા થકી અસત્ય ન બોલે પરધન નવ ઝાલે હાથ રે. ॥૨॥	समदृष्टि ने तृष्णा त्यागी, परस्त्री जेने मात रे । जिह्वा थकी असत्य न बोले, परधन नव झाले हाथ रे ॥	sama-dṛṣṭi ne tṛṣṇā tyāgī, para-strī jene māta re, jihvā thakī asatya na bole, para-dhana nava jhāle hātha re	They see all equally, renounce craving, Respect other women as their own mother, Their tongue never utters false words, Their hands never touch the wealth of others.
મોહ માયા વ્યાપે નહિ જેને, દૃઢ વૈરાગ્ય જેના મનમાં રે રામ નામ શુ તાળી રે લાગી સકળ તીરથ તેના તનમાં રે. ॥૩॥	मोह माया व्यापे नहि जेने, दृढ़ वैराग्य जेना मनमां रे । रामनाम शुं ताळी रे लागी, सकळ तीरथ तेना तनमां रे ॥	moha māyā vyāpe nahi jene, dhruda-vairāgya jenā manamāṁ re, rāma-nāma shu tāḷī lāgī, sakaḷa tīratha tenā tanamāṁ re	They do not succumb to worldly attachments, They are firmly detached from the mundane, They are enticed by the name of Rama, All places of pilgrimage are embodied in them.
વણ લોભી ને કપટ રહિત છે, કામ ક્રોધ નિવાર્યાં રે ભણે નરસૈયો તેનું દર્શન કરતાં કુળ એકોતેર તાર્યાં રે. ॥૪॥	वणलोभी ने कपटरहित छे, काम क्रोध निवार्या रे । भणे नरसैयॊ तेनुं दरसन करतां, कुळ एकोतेर तार्या रे ॥	vaṇa-lobhī ne kapaṭa-rahita che, kāma krodha nivāryā re, bhaṇe narasaiyo tenuṁ darasana karatāṁ, kuḷa ekotera tāryā re	They have forsaken greed and deceit, They stay afar from lust and anger, Narsi says: I’d be grateful to meet such a soul, Whose virtue liberates their entire lineage.

Notes on the congreve cube

Mahoney: “What is it?”
Mr. Magorium: “It’s the Congreve Cube.”
Mahoney: “It looks like a big block of wood.”
Mr. Magorium: “It is a big block of wood. But now, it’s your big block of wood.”
Mahoney: “Thank you. I was just saying last night I don’t have enough big blocks of wood.”
Mr. Magorium: “Unlikely adventures require unlikely tools.”
Mahoney: “Are we going on an adventure? ”
Mr. Magorium: “All I will say is with faith, love, this block and a counting mutant, you may find yourself somewhere you never imagined. ”

There are a million things one might do with a block of wood, but, Mahoney, what do you think might happen if someone just once,believed in it?
Edward Magorium, Mr.Magorium’s wonder emporium by Suzanne Weyn

It becomes something truly fantastic and magical because someone believed in it. And isn’t that true for all of us? Belief is empowering; it is a key to unlock the best of what we can become.
-Paul Martins, www.waldenfans.com

But by believing in my children and their intelligence, their talents, their strengths, and most importantly their abilities to overcome their challenges, I open up a world of possibilities to them, the possibilities of growth and change.
-Paul Martins, www.waldenfans.com

Sometimes it’s easy for us to get caught up in all the muck and mire of our lives that we spend little to no time thinking of our congreve cube, like Mahoney did. But in the end that is what will help us get out of the muck. I’m not about to try and tell you what your cube might be, but I do propose you ponder what your congreve cube is, and how you can unlock the power within.
-Janay Hiatt

You don’t know what you’re becoming
Who knows what you’re gonna be
We don’t know where we’re going
We don’t know ’cause we can’t see

If I could tell your future
I’d say love the world you find
In the dark times and the hard questions
Let some sunshine in your mind

Sun is rising
And I think that’s good
Just now realizing
Some things you never thought you were
Concluding remarks [Mr. Magorium’s wonder emporium]

Your business still sits there like a block of wood with millions of possibilities unexplored. It just needs someone to believe in it again.
– Phil Wezesinski, www.philsforum.com

Believing herself to be unworthy and incapable of owning a magical store, Mahoney puts it up for sale with Henry’s firm overseeing the sale. The store grieves and loses all its magic. All the toys, walls, and even the furniture lose their color, becoming varying shades of gray and black. Eric tries to reason with Mahoney over her decision to sell the store when he sees her at a restaurant playing background music.

Henry meets Mahoney at the store to draw up the sale papers, where he sees the Congreve Cube and asks her about it. When Mahoney confesses her complete faith in the store and the Congreve Cube’s magical ability, the block suddenly springs to life, and proceeds to fly around the store. After witnessing this, Henry faints with shock. When he later awakes and questions Mahoney about it, she tells him that it must have been a dream as she went home the previous night, leaving him to finalize the paperwork for the sale.

Henry is not deterred as he knows Mahoney made the cube fly and though she does not believe she can do magical and wonderful things, he believes in her. Henry realizes Mahoney is the Congreve Cube. The block of wood that can be anything she desires if she can somehow believe in herself. Henry’s whole hearted belief in Mahoney ignites a tiny spark in her and for a second she believes. The store responds to her spark of belief and continues to respond as her confidence builds until the entire store magnificently transforms. The magic and color return as Mahoney’s long awaited symphony comes into existence.
-Fandom.com

It isn’t until the very end, when she’s struggling with her own feelings of doubt and lack of purpose and non-magical abilities, when someone else shows faith in her. The unimaginative “counting mutant” (accountant) — who, it turns out, needs the Emporium as much as it needs Mahoney — is the one to finally shine the light of truth for her when he asks “What if someone, just once, believed in it?”
-www.rustybicyclerockyroad.com

Mr. Magorium gave it to her to teach her that she can do amazing things if she believes in herself the same way she believes in the block of wood. Now that Mahoney’s belief in the cube has made it fly, she no longer remembers it and only needs to believe in herself.
-Isolde A Logan

As it turns out, like the store and all its inventory, the Congreve Cube is not magical, by itself. The store turns black and starts misbehaving, none of the toys will work, and the block of wood is still completely inanimate… until Mahoney believed in herself. Not just built up her self-esteem or decided to follow her dreams, but believed in herself, put her faith in herself, and realized that all this time she had been looking for an objective reality—something that existed outside of her—when the inspiration, magic and something-to-believe-in were only real when she believed they were real. They then became real to her. At that point, the magic comes back to the store, the Congreve Cube starts flying around the room, and Mahoney finds her lost “sparkle”.
-www.purityandprecision.com

Two different themes emerge from the depiction of congreve cube:
1. Believing in one’s own self, so that one may grow in strength – in ways one did not believe was possible before
2. Believing in others, to help them be sure of themselves and find their strength.
There is no strength without belief.