Posted on December 11, 2009 at 11:17 am

Mirdad Speaks…

The book of the mirdad

The book of Mirdad is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. I will be posting some excerpts from the book that I really liked. Here is the first one.

IS IT LAWFUL TO KILL TO EAT?

Micayon: Is it not lawful, Master, to kill to eat?

MIRDAD: Tree of Life feed on Death is to become food for Death. To live by other’s pain is
to become a prey for pain. So has decreed the Omniwill. Know that and choose your course,
Micayon.

Micayon: If I had my choice, I would choose to live, like a phoenix, on the aroma of things,
not on their flesh.

MIRDAD: An excellent choice, indeed. Believe, Micayon that the day is coming in which
men shall live by the aroma of things, which is their spirit, and not by their flesh and blood.
And that day is not far off for the yearners.

For the yearners know that the life of flesh is but the bridge to the fleshless Life
And the yearners know that the course and inadequate senses are but the peepholes into the
world of the infinitely fine and adequate sense.
And the yearners know that every flesh they tear they must inevitably repair, soon or late, with
their own flesh; and every bone they crush they must rebuild with their own bone; and every
drop of blood they spill they must replenish with their own blood. For that is the law of flesh.
And the yearners would be free of bondage to this law. Therefore do they reduce their bodily
wants to the lowest minimum, reducing thereby their debt to the flesh which is , in truth, a debt
to Pain and Death.
The yearner is inhibited by his own will and yearning; while the non-yearner waits on others to
prohibit him. A multitude of things, which are, to the non-yearner, lawful, the yearner makes
unlawful for himself.
While the non-yearner grasps for more and yet more things to put in his pocket or belly, the
yearner walks his way without a pocket, and with a belly clean of any creature’s blood and
convulsions.
What the non-yearner gains – or thinks he gains – in bulk the yearner gains in lightness of spirit
and sweetness of understanding.
Of two men, looking at a green field on estimates its yield in bushels and calculates the price of
the bushels in silver and in gold. The other drinks the greenness of the field with his eye, and
kisses every blade with his though, and fraternizes in his soul with every rootlet and pebble, and
every clod of earth.
I say to you, the latter is the rightful owner of that field, although the other owns it in fee
simple.
Of the two men sitting in a house one is the owner , the other, but a guest. The owner
expatiates on the cost of building and maintenance, and on the values of draperies and tapestries
and other trappings and furnishings. While the guest blesses in his heart the hands that
quarried, dressed and built the stone; and the hands that wove the tapestries and the draperies;
and the hands that invaded the forest and turned it into windows and doors and into chairs and
tables. And he is exalted in spirit in exalting the Creative Hand on his back but dwelling not
therein.
Of the two men sharing with the calf the milk of that calf’s mother one eyes the calf with the
thought that his tender flesh would provide good meat for him and his friends to feast upon at
his approaching birthday. The other thinks of the calf as his brother of the teat and is filed
with affection for the young beast and his mother.
I say to you, the latter is truly nourished by that calf’s meat; while the first is poisoned thereby.
Aye, many things are put in the belly that should be put in the heart.
Many things are shut in the pocket and the larder that should be shut in the eye and the nose.
Many things are crushed with the teeth that should be crushed with the mind.
Very little does the body need to sustain it. The less you give it, the more it gives you in return.
The more you give it, the less it gives you in return.
Verily, things outside your larder and belly sustain you more than when in the larder and the
belly.
But since you are unable yet to live by the fragrance alone of things, take unafraid your need –
but no more than your need – of the generous heart of the Earth. For the Earth is so hospitable
and loving that her heart is every spread before her children.
How else can the Earth be, and where could she go outside of herself to feed herself? The Earth
must feed the Earth, and the Earth is not a miserly hostel, but her board is ever spread and full
for all.
In the same manner as the Earth invites you to her board, withholding nothing from your reach,
in that same manner must you invite the Earth to your board and say to her in utmost love and
sincerity:
‘O mother inexpressible! As you have laid your heart before me to take of it my need, so do I
lay my heart before you to take of it your need.’
If that be your guiding spirit in eating of the heart of the Earth, than little does it matter what
you eat.
But if that be , indeed, your guiding spirit, than should you have the wisdom and the love not to
bereave the Earth of any of her children, especially those which have come to feel the pleasure
of living and the pain of dying – those that have arrived at the segment of Duality. For they,
too, have their road to wend, slowly and laboriously, towards Unity. And their road is longer
than yours. Delay them in their march, and they shall delay you in your march.

Abimar: Since all living things are doomed to die, through one cause or another, why should
I have any scruples if I be the cause of any animal’s except it find him fit as an instrument for
killing.

MIRDAD: While it is true that all the living are condemned to die, yet woe to him who is the
cause of death of any living thing.
As you would not commission me to kill Naronda , knowing that I love him much and that no
blood lust is in my heart , likewise the Omniwill would commission no man to kill a fellowman,
or an animal , except it find him fit as an instrument for killing.
So long as men are what they are, so long shall there be thefts and robberies among them , and
lies and wars and murders and every kind of dark and evil passions.
But woe to the thief and the robber; and woe to the liar and the warlord, and to the murderer,
and every man who harbors dark and evil passions in his heart. For they, being full of woe, are
used by the Omniwill as messengers of woe.
But you, my Companions, must cleanse your hearts of every dark and evil passion that the
Omniwill may find you fit to carry to the suffering world the joyful message of relief from
suffering; the message of overcoming; the message of Freedom through Love and
Understanding.

So taught I Noah.

So I teach you.

Posted on November 24, 2009 at 5:29 pm

UK Car Driving Theory Test now also available for Android.

UK Car Driving Theory Test on Android

Its been while we were working on this app. iPhone app has been a pretty good success and it was time for Android market. So here it is. UK Car Driving Theory Test is now available for android market.

If you have an Android phone with barcode scanner app, just point it on the following barcode and it will take you to the app link in Android market.

Posted on November 17, 2009 at 3:01 pm

A must watch if you love food

Posted on November 9, 2009 at 10:07 am

Google to acquire AdMob

I was expecting this to happen. I was wondering why Google is not so aggressive when it comes to adsense on mobile. And at some time I thought they might be looking for acquisition  of an established mobile advertising company rather than investing their time and money into building there own mobile advertising platform. And finally it happened.

This means a lot to advertiser and publisher. Being an iPhone developer I will be watching this development closely.

Apple needs to be worried about this acquisition. Apple, so far has no data as far app usage on iPhone is concerned. Google will tremendously benefit from the stats they will gather and eventually use them to make strategic decisions about Android Platform. Since mobile is the future this acquisition makes Google a little more powerful.

Update: Its interesting news that Apple tried to buy AdMob. Of course they should have bought it, it makes a lot of sense for Apple to own AdMob. Nevertheless expect a new framework from Apple that will help developers to include ads in iPhone.

Posted on November 9, 2009 at 9:52 am

Grammar Express: Master your English grammatical tenses.

Grammar Express

My previous app, Grammar Up was a super hit on app store. The free version has been downloaded over 100 thousand times where as the paid version has been downloaded around 20 thousand times. Grammar Up was based on TOEIC exam pattern and didn’t actually teach grammar rules, but tested knowledge of grammar and several kind of word choices. Many user complained that they expected there will be some teaching material in Grammar Up.

To address this complain I teamed with Ashok sir, who has been teaching English grammar for last 30+ years. At the age of sixty he still carries an enthusiasm of an youngster. He lives in small village in Maharashtra, India where power outage is a daily affair.  Fortunately, they have telephone line and thanks to BSNL, internet is also available now and internet opens door to a lot of possibilities. Here is one example.

With his help I will be publishing a series of iPhone apps that will touch upon each and every grammar topic. To start with, we just released our first app, Grammar Express: Tenses. Grammar Express: Tenses is a complete course in learning grammatical tenses. It has all the rules explained with several examples and followed by quiz with huge question bank.

Check it out on app store:

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