Thought 136: The Guru-Sishya Parampara

In the ancient times, there was a tradition (Parampara) in India to pass on knowledge by Gurus (teachers) to their Sishyas (disciples) through oral teaching, which is known as “Guru-Sishya Parampara”. In this ancient tradition, the Guru is totally dedicated to imparting knowledge to his students, in a climate of care, discipline, love and affection. Teaching in the ancient Hindu system was considered a noble and sacred duty. The teacher carefully selected only those students who conformed to the highest standards of personal integrity and scholarship. This, in no way, resembles the commercial arrangement of modern day schools. The ancient Hindu education system is a totally dedicated system; the student is totally dedicated to learning and the teacher is equally totally dedicated to imparting knowledge.

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Thought 135: The ancient body of religious knowledge

Rishis were the ancient sages of India. They were holy men who spent all their time doing Tapas or meditation or teaching the Saastras (Scriptures) to a few carefully chosen disciples. They were seers – they had visions during their contemplation/meditation. All Hindus, who have a “Gotra”, are the descendents of these Rishis or their early ancestors who tended the cows of these ancient Rishis.

These Rishis developed a great body of religious literature for the Hindu religion. We have this store of knowledge coming down to us from generation to generation, mostly by word of mouth, through the lineage of, what is known as the “Guru-Sishya Parampara” - and also to a limited extent, through ancient writings on palm leaves.


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Thought 134: What is Hinduism

The Greeks pronounce the word “Sindhu”, which is the Sanskrit name of the Indus River (Sindhu River) in the Northwest India, as “Hindu”. When the army of Alexander the Great invaded India around 300 BC, they called all those who lived in the Indian subcontinent on or beyond the "Sindhu" river as Hindus - and from then onwards, we came to be called Hindus. Before that, Hinduism was known as the “Sanaatana Dharma”, which is the real name of our religion.

Hinduism is world’s oldest religion, which originated in the Vedic civilization. There are now nearly 800 million Hindus living in India alone. Many countries in south east Asia, Eastern Africa and the west Indies also have small Hindu communities – which still retain their Hindu identity, worship Hindu gods and follow most of the Hindu traditions and rituals.

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Thought 133: Transcendental Meditation

Meditation (Dhyaana) is a huge Vedaantic concept which is practiced in a very simple way. It is an inseparable part of the spiritual life; it is the most important and powerful component of the spiritual practice (Saadhana). Meditation in general is practiced purely as a trnsaction of the mind (Manasaa Vyaapaara) for the sake of gaining concentration (Ekaagrata). It is frequently described as an uninterrupted (continuous) stream of thoughts about the God – like the continuous flow of oil from one vessel to another.

Meditation is now accepted as a cure for hypertension, insomnia, stomach ulcers, back pain, asthma etc. If you have spiritual interests also, you focus attention inward and try to glimpse into the vast and peaceful spiritual horizon. The inner experience of divinity gives you an extraordinary tranquility and detachment. But, the spiritual persons, who practice meditation, consider the therapeutic benefit merely as a fringe benefit.

In the Patanajali’s Ashtaanga Yoga, meditation is to be practiced in three stages.
Pratyaahaara: Mind which has strong tendency to go out into the world of objects is restrained to remain within and stop wandering hither and thither. The external thoughts are sought to be eleiminated with this technique.
Dhaarana: Mind is strongly directed to think of god exclusively. (in the early stages unsuccessfully). Mind is very unruly like a wid horse. It has to be persistently and relentlessly restrained. When thoughts from the internally memory bank pop out the meditattor is required to ignore them.
Dhyaana: continuous uninterrupted flow of thoughts about god

Transcendental meditation is a specialized form of Meditation, which has been popularized all over the world through the pioneering efforts of Maharshi Mahesh Yogi. They call this type of meditation as “An appointment with yourself”. It is considered very efficacious in easing tensions – resulting in relaxation. You do not need to be either religious or spiritual for practicing this meditation.

Man has a vast memory bank in his subconscious mind. There are invariably some memories in it, which relate to guilt, stress, fear, trauma etc – experiences with which the person could not cope up earlier when they occurred. They remain in the subconscious mind – weighing heavily on the person. They are a burden, which the person continues to carry with him. As long as they continue to exert their pressure, the person continues to move in life with fear, agony and sorrow – and he finds no thrill in living this way. Unless, these accumulated agonizing memories are brought out and sublimated, they continue to torment the person.

Fortunately, these memories have a way of coming to the surface suddenly, during the quiet moments of meditation - like bubbles coming to the surface in a quiet pond, when decaying organic matter underneath, releases a gas. These are the unassimilated, undigested and hurtful experiences, which lie buried deep within the subconscious mind, which now bubble up and disappear forever. These memories pop up without any seeming connection and relevancy. They should not be considered as disturbances – and opposed. You let them bubble up. Just leave them alone – and they disappear. It is for this reason that in TM, you are advised not to concentrate – they positively discourage concentration.

In this form of meditation, you tie your self to some "Mantra" and allow yourself to slip out of your conscious awareness, freely and unobtrusively. You do not oppose thoughts as they appear, one after another, while you close your eyes and repeat the mantra silently. Let the thoughts come and go freely. Mantra brings you up every now and then, from wherever you happen to have wandered. You keep going and coming back – all the time. When you go down, the mantra brings you up. It is just like dipping your self into a deep well, after making sure that you will not sink – and the mantra is supposed to ensure this. You dip into your subconscious mind and bring out the accumulated tension.

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Thought 132: Prayer is an excellent method of relieving stress

All religions recognize that prayer is an excellent form of worship. All of us pray at some time or the other; you very rarely find a human beng who does not pray at some time or the other. Even atheists pray when placed in highly traumatic circumstances – such as advanced stages of cancer; they try to make their peace with their maker when they realize that they are about to depart on their final journey.

Prayer is an excellent method of relieving stress. It relieves anxiety and tension, by unburdening the mind and establishing direct emotional communion with the God. Every prayer emanates from the heart – it is an outpouring of the heart. The hearts of devotees cry out in prayer – especially in highly stressful circumstances, like Gajendra or Draupadi. Because the prayer is a spontaneous outpouring of the heart, it has no standard format. The prayer is only as efficacious as your sincerety, faith in god and devotion.

A prayer is a private conversation between you and your creator. A prayer is a recognition of your helplessness in this world of mortals – and also a recognition that there are higher powers ruling over the destinies of mortals. Unless you believe in God, you do not pray; prayer presupposes some amount of faith in God. While praying, you become sincere and humble - which is your immediate reward.

In prayer, you plug into your God and seek relief; you supplicate yourself to God. You petition the God for granting you some thing which you desire immediately. A soul under torment, longing for His help, conceives Him capable of granting this prayer. You have faith that He will provide the relief - from whatever is troubling you. You can, of course, ask for calmness, peace and tranquility, although, people normally do not seek these things from God. Your faith makes you believe that your prayer will be granted - and this belief itself is therapeutic. Prayer purifies your mind; it has a cleansing effect - which is very supportive, when you are under tension.

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Thought 131: The Bananas

Roger Maillot, the stress management consultant, calls problems "bananas". He recounts an interesting episode in catching monkeys. They are caught in some countries by putting a banana in a bamboo box, with the vertical bamboo members of the box close together - not too close that the monkey cannot put its hand inside but close enough for it not being able to remove its hand with the banana in it. The monkey remains in that helpless position until caught! If it drops the banana, it can remove its hand and escape, but this strategy does not occur to it. It does not occur to many people also.

Stop worrying about dirty problems or “bananas”. There is no percentage in it. Worrying about them does not take you to the solution. Dr Wayne Dyer defines worry as "immobilization now about a future happening". You waste energy on a behavior, which has no potential or real benefit to you. Worry, in any form, for any reason, is wasteful and degrades the quality of life.

The moral of this story is that you must learn to “let go” – “let go” all the emotional traps; “let go” all the negative loads; “Let go” all the toxic emotions and toxic thoughts; “let go” hostility, guilt and fear; “let go” the egocentric attitudes. And see how light and relaxed you feel. If you learn to “let go”, you can be free - and be peaceful and happy.

The next thought is about “Prayer is an excellent method of relieving stress”

Thought 131: The Bananas

Roger Maillot, the stress management consultant, calls problems "bananas". He recounts an interesting episode in catching monkeys. They are caught in some countries by putting a banana in a bamboo box, with the vertical bamboo members of the box close together - not too close that the monkey cannot put its hand inside but close enough for it not being able to remove its hand with the banana in it. The monkey remains in that helpless position until caught! If it drops the banana, it can remove its hand and escape, but this strategy does not occur to it. It does not occur to many people also.

Stop worrying about dirty problems or “bananas”. There is no percentage in it. Worrying about them does not take you to the solution. Dr Wayne Dyer defines worry as "immobilization now about a future happening". You waste energy on a behavior, which has no potential or real benefit to you. Worry, in any form, for any reason, is wasteful and degrades the quality of life.

The moral of this story is that you must learn to “let go” – “let go” all the emotional traps; “let go” all the negative loads; “Let go” all the toxic emotions and toxic thoughts; “let go” hostility, guilt and fear; “let go” the egocentric attitudes. And see how light and relaxed you feel. If you learn to “let go”, you can be free - and be peaceful and happy.

The next thought is about “Prayer is an excellent method of relieving stress”

Thought 131: The Bananas

Roger Maillot, the stress management consultant, calls problems "bananas". He recounts an interesting episode in catching monkeys. They are caught in some countries by putting a banana in a bamboo box, with the vertical bamboo members of the box close together - not too close that the monkey cannot put its hand inside but close enough for it not being able to remove its hand with the banana in it. The monkey remains in that helpless position until caught! If it drops the banana, it can remove its hand and escape, but this strategy does not occur to it. It does not occur to many people also.

Stop worrying about dirty problems or “bananas”. There is no percentage in it. Worrying about them does not take you to the solution. Dr Wayne Dyer defines worry as "immobilization now about a future happening". You waste energy on a behavior, which has no potential or real benefit to you. Worry, in any form, for any reason, is wasteful and degrades the quality of life.

The moral of this story is that you must learn to “let go” – “let go” all the emotional traps; “let go” all the negative loads; “Let go” all the toxic emotions and toxic thoughts; “let go” hostility, guilt and fear; “let go” the egocentric attitudes. And see how light and relaxed you feel. If you learn to “let go”, you can be free - and be peaceful and happy.

The next thought is about “Prayer is an excellent method of relieving stress”

Thought 131: The Bananas

Roger Maillot, the stress management consultant, calls problems "bananas". He recounts an interesting episode in catching monkeys. They are caught in some countries by putting a banana in a bamboo box, with the vertical bamboo members of the box close together - not too close that the monkey cannot put its hand inside but close enough for it not being able to remove its hand with the banana in it. The monkey remains in that helpless position until caught! If it drops the banana, it can remove its hand and escape, but this strategy does not occur to it. It does not occur to many people also.

Stop worrying about dirty problems or “bananas”. There is no percentage in it. Worrying about them does not take you to the solution. Dr Wayne Dyer defines worry as "immobilization now about a future happening". You waste energy on a behavior, which has no potential or real benefit to you. Worry, in any form, for any reason, is wasteful and degrades the quality of life.

The moral of this story is that you must learn to “let go” – “let go” all the emotional traps; “let go” all the negative loads; “Let go” all the toxic emotions and toxic thoughts; “let go” hostility, guilt and fear; “let go” the egocentric attitudes. And see how light and relaxed you feel. If you learn to “let go”, you can be free - and be peaceful and happy.

The next thought is about “Prayer is an excellent method of relieving stress”

Thought 130: Stress has become unavoidable

A person goes to work for two primary reasons. One, of course, is to earn his or her livelihood. The other equally important drive is to socialize. If you do not go to work, you degenerate. This is why people, who lose jobs, for whatever reason and those who retire, get easily bored, demoralized and depressed, when remaining idle at home. It is said that an idle man’s brain is a devil’s workshop. Boredom drives these people to all sorts of mischief – alcoholism, for instance, is one offshoot of such a boredom.

At the same time, when you have a job and go to work, the work environment interacts with you - not always pleasantly. This interaction very often results in some amount of stress. As a matter of fact, there is usually some amount of stress in every occupation and in every work environment.

The say that emotions like medicine should be in a proper dosage to be effective. This principle is observed more in its breach than in its compliance. Emotions have direct impact on health. There are many instances of body reaction relating to the state of the mind. You blush when you are embarrassed. Your face becomes red when you are angry. You become pale when you are frightened. When you feel frightened, the heart rate increases rapidly. Sadness and melancholy can produce loss of appetite. Mind and breathing are connected in some way. When you are disturbed - anger, shock, fear etc - your breathing becomes irregular. We know that rhythmic breathing calms the mind.

Emotional stress is what you feel when a loved one passes away. It manifests itself in depression, grief, sadness, loneliness, helplessness. Under the influence of this type of stress, you may get immobilized and neglect your health, your job etc. If you are a habitual cynic, these effects will be accentuated further.

Stress related disorders like, high blood pressure, insomnia, ulcers, migraine headaches, are now being cured by body-mind therapies like meditation, relaxation response, hypnosis etc. Thus, the evidence that bodies and minds effect each other appears overwhelming. Now, it is more or less accepted that "thinking well helps making you well".

The next thought is about “The Bananas”

Thought 129: The Body-Mind Connection

Certain physical ailments are influenced by mental factors – which indicates the "body-mind" connection. Continuous stress induces the body to pump increasing amounts of hormones into the blood stream. These hormones, Dr Herbert Benson writes, produce tension headaches and anxiety attacks - important symptoms of which are nausea, vomiting, short temper, insomnia and many phobias. These chemical messengers (hormones) can inhibit immune action also. It is now well established that the body-mind interactions influence migraine head aches, ulcers, high blood pressure and back pain, etc. When people are in a pressure cooker for a long time, they eat badly, sleep badly, exercise badly, work badly and even think badly.

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