Develop the love of God so that I see in your eyes that you are drunk with God and not asking, “When will I have God?” When you ask that, you are not a devotee. The devotee says: “I have Him, He is listening to me; my Beloved is always with me. He is moving my hands; He is digesting my food; He is gazing at me through the stars.”
– Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
Dr. Froylan Alvarado Guemez Pierre Teilhard de Chardi, of the Jesuit order. Born in Orcines, on May 1, 1881 and died in New York on April 10, 1995. It was the French theologian, philosopher and paleontologist who built an integrated vision of science and mysticism with his thought; of the evolution of spirit and thought.
▪ _Religion is not just one, there are hundreds._
▪ Spirituality is one.
▪ _Religion is for those who sleep._
▪ Spirituality is for those who are awake.
▪ _Religion is for those who need someone to tell them what to do and want to be guided._
▪ Spirituality is for those who pay attention to their inner voice.
▪ _Religion has a set of dogmatic rules._
▪ Spirituality invites us to reason about everything, to question everything.
▪ _Religion threatens and frightens._
▪ Spirituality gives inner peace.
▪ _Religion speaks of sin and guilt._
▪ Spirituality says, “learn from error”.
▪ _Religion represses everything and in some cases it is false._
▪ Spirituality transcends everything, it brings you closer to your truth!
▪ _Religion speaks of a god; It is not God._
▪ Spirituality is everything and, therefore, it is in God.
▪ _Religion invents._
▪Spirituality finds.
▪ _Religion does not tolerate any question._
▪Spirituality questions everything.
▪ _Religion is human, it is an organization with men’s rules._
▪ Spirituality is Divine, without human rules.
▪ _Religion is the cause of divisions._
▪The spirituality unites.
▪ _Religion is looking for you to believe._
▪ Spirituality you have to look for it to believe.
▪ _Religion follows the precepts of a sacred book._
▪ Spirituality seeks the sacred in all books.
▪ _Religion feeds on fear._
▪ Spirituality feeds on trust and faith.
▪ _Religion lives in thought._
▪ Spirituality lives in Consciousness.
▪ _Religion deals with doing._
▪ Spirituality has to do with the Self.
▪ _Religion feeds the ego._
▪ Spirituality drives to transcend.
▪ _Religion makes us renounce the world to follow a God._
▪ Spirituality makes us live in God, without renouncing us.
▪ _Religion is a cult._
▪ Spirituality is meditation.
▪ _Religion fills us with dreams of glory in paradise._
▪ Spirituality makes us live the glory and paradise here and now.
▪ _Religion lives in the past and in the future._
▪ Spirituality lives in the present.
▪ _Religion creates cloisters in our memory._
▪ Spirituality liberates our Consciousness.
▪ _Religion makes us believe in eternal life._
▪ Spirituality makes us aware of Eternal Life.
▪ _Religion promises life after death._
▪ Spirituality is to find God in our interior during life and death.🙏🏻
_-We are not human beings who go through a spiritual experience.-_
*-We are spiritual beings that we go through a human experience.-*
In practical daily life we are hurt by small things; we are enslaved by little things. Misery comes because we think we are finite – we are little beings. And yet, how difficult it is to believe that we are infinite beings! In the midst of all this misery and trouble, when a little thing may throw me off balance, it must be my care to believe that I am infinite. And the fact is that we are, and that consciously or unconsciously we are all searching after that something which is infinite; we are always seeking for freedom.
Swami Vivekananda
Brother Anandamoy of SRF, tells “The Story of the Chinese Bamboo Tree”
“There’s a story about the Chinese bamboo tree. They plant a seed and water it very carefully and repeatedly for a year. Nothing happens. Second year they keep on watering that seed, nothing happens. Third year, same thing, nothing happens. Fourth year, same thing! But they keep on watering that seed. Fifth year, WITHIN SIX WEEKS, the bamboo shoots up ninety feet into a powerful tree. And before that, those four years when seemingly nothing happened, that seed developed a powerful root system to prepare to support the tree.
And I often thought about that when it comes to kriya yoga. You practice and nothing happens, right? Seemingly, consciously, to your experience not much happens. But underneath, there’s preparation going on. Underneath there are changes going on, there is purification going on. And it may be longer than four years. Be patient, and practice, because it works.
As I said before, these subtle changes you do not notice until later. And you are bringing in the power, it is accumulated as you practice more. The magnet becomes stronger and there’s a greater flow of energy. And that does it, it brings about scientifically the changes that are necessary for the launching of the bamboo tree that is within you (Anandamoy chuckles).”
During prayer I give myself over to the Lord and delight myself in zealous worship. The window of my soul opens wide and the Book of God comes to view To fill my house with grace and light.
– Rumi
I Am Drunk And You are Insane–Who’s Going to Take Us Home? By Raj Ayyar
Raj Ayyar
To: Me ([email protected])
Wednesday, December 6, 2017, 1:11 AM
Launching the month of December with two of my favorite quotes, one from
Rumi and the other from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas.
‘I am drunk and you are insane,
who’s going to take us home?
In this city no one I see is conscious; one is worse off than the next,
frenzied and insane.
Dear one, come to the tavern of ruin and experience the pleasures of the
soul.
What happiness can there be apart from this intimate conversation with the
Beloved?
In every corner there are drunkards, while the Server pours the wine from a
royal decanter to every particle of being.’
–Rumi ed. Kabir Helminski in The Pocket Rumi (Shambhala Publications).
‘I took my stand in the middle of the world and I appeared to them in the
flesh.
I found them all drunk
none of them thirsty.’
–Gospel of Thomas tr. Willis Barnstone and Marvin Meyer: The Essential
Gnostic Scriptures.
Both quotes highlight the ‘drunkenness’ and insanity of most ego-ridden
mortals, addicted to one thing or the other–could be alcohol and other
substances, or sex, fame, power, money, food, love.
Few are ‘thirsty’ for the higher joys of spirit.
The similarities between the two quotes are quite striking.
As always, Jalaluddin Rumi is a master of frame switches in the same
verse/(s). He moves from talking about the ‘drunkenness’ of those addicted
to worldly pursuits, their frenzy and insanity. Then, he switches to the
higher wine of the soul in the ‘tavern of ruin’, presumably the tavern of
ego shattering, where the Beloved pours out the wine for the thirsty. The
deft frame switch here is from ‘drunkenness’ as a metaphor for the lost,
frenzied and addicted, to a higher thirst for the ‘wine of the Beloved’.
The second quote from the Thomas gospel is very similar–Jesus talks about
incarnating in the flesh, only to find that very few are ‘thirsty’ for the
higher gnosis; most of us are drunk on one thing or the other–alcohol or
other substances, power, money, sex etc.
I love the lines: ‘In this city no one I see is conscious; one is worse
off than the next, frenzied and insane.’ So true of New Delhi and many
other cities, but in Delhi, the frenzied addiction to power grab, property
grab, sex grab and upward mobility at any cost including murder, is at a
scary extreme here and now.
With all our contemporary anxieties and fears globally, locally and in our personal lives, refreshing wisdom from the great ancient Stoic philosopher Seneca
Fear is mostly due to projecting our thoughts way ahead of us, instead of
adapting to the present moment.
Wild animals run from the dangers they actually see, and once they escape
them, they worry no more!
We however, are tormented alike by what is past and what is to come.
Memory brings back the agony of fear, while foresight brings it on
prematurely.
No one confines unhappiness to the present moment.
–Seneca: Letters from a Stoic
Seneca is arguably one of the great Stoic voices, largely because he
acknowledges his own and the other’s vulnerability and humanness, instead
of retreating to the cold, stiff upper lip attitude of most Stoic
philosophers. This text is priceless–who ever said Zen, Taoism and Ram
Dass invented ‘Be here now’? Seneca recommends being in the present moment,
even with one’s fears.
I love the lines: ‘Wild animals run from the dangers they actually see, and
once they escape them, they worry no more!
We however, are tormented alike by what is past and what is to come.’
Humans (for the most part) are tormented by past recollections of a fearful
situation (yes, that one–with your ex, your former or current boss, your
spouse, mother), or with your fave phobia. Or, they run from an anticipated
fear of what MIGHT happen in the future. Animals in the wild, recoil ONLY
from dangers here and now and are scared here and now. They don’t sit
around ‘pasting’, or ‘future-izing’ about what could happen next.
The authors conclude that urgent measures are necessary to avoid disaster. They call upon everyday citizens to urge their leaders to “take immediate action as a moral imperative to current and future generations of human and other life.”
DAM INSTRUMENTATION
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Instrumentation which is essentially a technology of measurements and vital in all scientific investigations helps in monitoring and evaluating the performance of dams during their construction as well as during their operation. Instrumentation helps in checking the theories used in design, in validating and improving upon the design principles and discarding the erroneous concepts. Future behaviour of dams can be predicted and suitable remedial measures can be undertaken to strengthen them. Instrumentation also helps in verification of new construction techniques and to build greater confidence among engineers responsible for maintenance and operation of dams.
The instruments and instrumentation systems which used to be most often hydraulic, mechanical, pneumatic and electro-mechanical are gradually getting transformed into electronic ones as they facilitate use of electronic data loggers and computers. At major projects, where the instruments are installed in large numbers, it is desirable to go in for automation so that the results from instrumentation data could be made available as quickly as possible for evaluating the health status of dams and for taking suitable remedial action, if warranted.
The failure of dams in the world is approximately one in 185; but it could be more in future due to faster pace with which dams are being constructed. While failure of dams cannot be completely avoided, it is possible to reduce the effect of their failure on public life and property, if advance information and warning could be provided by monitoring the dam behaviour based on the instrumentation data and timely measures are initiated in the form of strengthening of dams or disaster management. Instrumentation can also form a basis during legal proceedings, claims etc. after the failure of a dam.
A number of higher and higher dams are being constructed in the relatively unstable Himalayan geological formations. These dams have high risk consequences and therefore may need to be adequately instrumented. The instrumentation of foundations should, therefore, be extensive so that adequate foundation treatment is ensured after receiving feedback from them.
For successful implementation of instrumentation, it is necessary that the instruments and the instrumentation system chosen should be sufficiently sensitive, accurate, reliable and durable. Additional care should be taken while selecting instruments, that are buried and can not be retrieved later for servicing. Again proper study and experience is required to be able to understand as to what parameters are required to be monitored for planning and placement of instruments. Instrumentation with respect to its location in Dam need to be absolutely thorough so that areas critical for stress determination are fully covered. The designer should infact specify the critical points which need to be constantly monitored and the frequency at which the collection of data and monitoring is to be done.
2.0 TYPE OF INSTRUMENTS
About forty yearas ago, geomechanics was still a new science and market for instrumentation hardly existed. Instruments were installed only to monitor any special problem encountered during construction. Today geomechanics has matured as a science and instrumentation is invariably specified in every project and is recognised as a necessity in dams. Instruments are now typically installed, read and interpreted by specialised instrumentation engineers rather than by manufacturers.
Instrumentation technology has advanced very rapidly during the recent years and it has become more secure with more complex devices becoming quite common for use in dams. The instruments available since the beginning of the era of instrumentation can be classified into four categories, based on their principles of working viz.: Mechanical, Hydraulic, Pneumatic and Electrical/Electronic. Initially mechanical and hydraulic instruments were used extensively for instrumentation. However, with the passage of time and advancement of technology, pneumatic and electrical/electronic instruments have become popular. The period since when these dam instruments are being used abroad and in India is given below.
——————————————————
Instruments Since when in use (years)
technology abroad India
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The mechanical,hydraulic and pneumatic type of instruments are simple, rugged, reliable, cheaper and easy to operate but they have lower response and lower accuracy. The electrical/electronic instruments are highly sensitive and have high resolutions.
Off late the use of Electrical/Electronic type instruments are in vogue and these are being used extensively in instrumentation of dams. The electrical/Electronics type of instruments include unbonded resistance type, bonded strain gauge type and vibrating wire type.
Due to high rate of mortality among various types of instruments, erratic behaviour and lack of proper calibration, the results given by most of the instruments cannot be fully relied upon except in the case of vibrating wire type instruments.
Bonded strain gauge type instruments are suitable for surface installations and for short term observations. The unbounded resistance type of instruments, though have long term stability but they suffer from zero shift, cable resistance variation are sensitive to temperature changes, moisture movements and have short life. Thus, their long term reliability is questionable.
The vibrating wire instruments are now increasingly being used in dam instrumentation. These instruments are reliable, sensitive, accurate, durable and can be used with modern data loggers and computers. In fact with vibrating wire instruments, instrumentation can be completely automated and these can be read and interpreted at even far off Central control rooms through satellites. Other reasons for selection of vibrating wire technology are :
Selecting vibrating-wire technology for piezometers, settlement sensors, total pressure cells, strain gauges and joint meters permits the same terminal switching stations and readout equipment can be used for all these instruments.
Vibrating wire instruments are however, affected by temperature changes. For this reason, each instrument includes a thermistor so that the temperature changes to be noted and compensated for.
As regards, determining the number of instruments and their exact type or location, their determination is primarily a matter of experienced judgement.
3.0 DEVELOPMENT OF INSTRUMENTATION TECHNOLOGY IN INDIA
Instrumentation Technology in India can be traced back with the establishment of Engineering Research Institute in the Irrigation Depts of States with the assistance of National Physical Laboratory for transducer development.
Further, after Independence, a large number of high dams were taken up for construction. For some of the dams, Consultants from USA and European countries were involved, with the result that the State-of-art of dam instrumentation, as available in advanced countries could be introduced. However, indigenously manufactured instruments have a very high rate of mortality and could not be relied upon. Added to this, the instrumentation of dams was not carried out in right earnestness with the result instrumentation suffered and only a few instruments yielded reliable data.
The vibrating wire type instruments, no doubt enjoy advantages but they are costly and most of their components are imported. A number of Indian firms have of late entered into collaboration with foreign partner and have started producing vibrating wire instruments. It is suggested that only those firms which supply vibrating wire instruments with ISO 9000 certification be used for dam instrumentation.
Moreover due to lack of co-ordination between the construction contractors of dams and manufacturers/suppliers of the instruments, the programme of installation of instruments and their accessories and the successful interpretation of instrumentation data could not be achieved. It is therefore, suggested that the procurement, installation and successful operation of instruments should be a part of the main contract.
Central Water Commission has prepared guidelines for BIS code on standardising the dam instrumentation. Still lot of work in standardising the dam instrumentation system need to be done.
In India we have 277 dams above a height of 30m and another 116 dams are under construction(total 393 dams), out of which only about 149 dams are known to be adequately instrumented.
4.0 PARAMETERS TO BE MONITORED IN DAMS:
The various parameters to be monitored and measured in the dams are: Uplift, Pore pressure, stress, strain, joint movements, horizontal and vertical displacement, foundation deformation, deflection, surface movement, seepage, temperature and seismicity.
Various instruments used for monitoring these parameters in dams are tabulated below:
PARAMETERS INSTRUMENTS WHERE APPLICABLE
I.Uplift/pore 1.Twintube Hydraulic piezometers
water pressure 2.Pneumatic piezometers
3.Vibratingwire piezometers
4.Unboundedelectric resistance piezometers
5.Bonded Electric resistance piezometers
6.Multipoint piezometers with packers
7.Multipointpiezometers surrounded with grout
8.Multipointpushin piezometers.
9.Porous tube piezometers
10.Slottedpipe piezometers.
11.Pore pressure cells.
2.Weirs
3.Flumes
4.Flow meters
5.Velocity meters
6.Geophysical seepage monitoring
7.Water quality meters
8.Resistivity test
III.Strain 1.Elastic wire strain meters
2.Vibrating wire strain meters.
3.Reinforcing meters
4.Nostressstrainmeters
IV.Stress 1.Gloetzl Cell
2.Carlson Load Cell
3.Vibrating wire stress meters.
4.Flat jacks
V.Relative movement across
Joints(Between Blocks) 1.Joint meters
VI.Displacements 1.Multipoint extensometers
2.Whitemore gauges
3.Crackmonitoringgauges 4.Calipers 5.Micrometers
6.Dial gauges
7.Vibrating wire settlement sensors
8.Internalverticalmovementinstallation
9.Inclinometers.
VII.Deformation 1.Multipointboreholeextensometers
2.Foundation deformation gauges.
3.Tunnel type gauges
VIII.Deflection/Surface movements 1.Plumblines
2.Tilt meters
3.Embankment measuring points
4.Structural measuring points.
5.Surveyingtechniques.
(a)Triangulation
(b) Trilateration
(c) Collimation
IX.Temperature 1.Resistancethermometers
(Surface & Dam Body) 2.Vibratingwire thermometers.
3.Thermisters
X.Seismic 1.Geophones(For monitoring micro seismic activities)
2.Seismograph(Strong motion monitors)
4.1 The various parameters which are required to be monitored in concrete/masonry and gravity dams are:
4.2 The various parameters to be monitored in Earth and Rockfill dams for judging their performance are
CASE STUDIES:
A few case histories are presented below which indicate as to how the instrumentation has helped in measuring and monitoring the behaviour of dams and structures and in implementation of the remedial measures for safety of the dams etc.
a) In June 1985, a big land slide with a slide mass of 30 million cubic meters took place at Xintanzhen town in China. This town is situated on the bank slope of the Yangtze River, about 70 km upstream of Gezhouba Project or 27 km upstream of Three Gorges Dam It was due to perfect instrumentation and monitoring work, such as alignment system, levelling measurements, triangulation, bore hole observation etc., that it was possible to forecast much in advance that such a landslide is inevitable. In compliance with this advance forecast, the authorities evacuated 481 families consisting of 1370 people well in time and human casualties were completely avoided. This landslide destroyed 95% of the old Xintanzhen town. It is reported that when slide mass plunged into the river, the surge was as high as 40m.
b) The 82m high Bhandardara Masonry Dam, in the State of Maharashtra over River Pravara, a tributary of River Godavari, having a total length at top of dam as 507m was completed in the year 1926. This dam was operated for about 43 years without any problem or distress. In 1969 it was noticed that a heavy sheet of flow of water @ 0.62 cumec(22 cusecs) was gushing out from the contact plane between masonary and the rock foundation at a distance of about 70m from the centre of the After investigations, remedial measures were undertaken to repair and strengthen the dam and to stop excessive seepage. While undertaking the remedial measures various instruments were also installed to monitor the effectiveness of the strengthening of dam and remedial measures undertaken.
The results, as gathered from the instruments installed in the dam, showed very encouraging results and effectiveness of the remedial measures like decrease in seepage from 0.62 cumec(22 cusecs) to about 5 litres/sec(0.005 cumec or 0.18 cusecs), reduction in uplift pressure in dam foundation, reduction in deflection of dam from 10.30mm (before undertaking remedial measures) to 4.50mm, reduction in tilt from 72 seconds to 28 seconds.
c) Fontenelle Dam, a zoned earthfill structure in United States, constructed by USBR and completed in 1964 has a crest length of 1652m and a structural height of Immediately after construction, when the filling of the reservoir of the dam was done in 1965, a section of the right embankment near the right abutment collapsed due to excessive seepage and piping. The excessive seepage was under significant hydraulic pressure and it eroded the embankment material along the foundation which was highly jointed and untreated.
After completion of the remedial measures to strengthen the embankmet, reinforcing it with grout curtain near the abutments, the reservoir was filled up. While executing the remedial measures, extensive instrumentation of the embankment in the form of observation wells, installation of piezometers stand pipes, seepage monitoring devices, uplift/pore water pressure instruments etc. was done to monitor and measure the behaviour of the dam. Although the dam functioned satisfactorily till 1982, once again, distress condition were noticed(primarily due to extensive instrumentation), in the form of excessive seepage, piping, increase in the rate of settlement etc. During this second distress condition in the dam, further instrumentation like temperature monitoring, foundation settlement monitoring, ground water flow monitoring, embankment measurement points etc. were adopted, in addition to earlier instrumentation which was also increased.
The extensive instrumentation and monitoring program helped to avoid an emergency situation in 1983. The monitoring of seepage, piping and structural behaviour of the dam could help in identifying areas of potential problem and timely remedial measures were undertaken to avoid any major failure of the dam.
The examples quoted above merely indicate that even dams/structures which would have been operated successfully without any incident or distress for many years, are also susceptible to serious problems and distress thus reinforcing the need and necessity of extensive instrumentation and monitoring their behaviour to be able to detect distress conditions in these dams/structures and take suitable remedial and precautionary measures in advance to avoid heavy loss of human life and property.