We are all driven by our thoughts

Thought 195: The holistic approach to life (Continued)

2011-11-02T13:49:00.000-04:00

Part 11 - Contribution To The Society

- Do not always be too concerned about your comforts only. Get concerned also about those less fortunate than you

- Give into the society at least a part of what you have taken from it. You will soon realize that there is more pleasure in giving than in receiving

- Join a charitable or a philanthropic organization to render some service to the society. Set apart one evening at least in a week for this service.

“Quitters never win. Winners never quit”

“We never plan for failure. We only fail to plan”

“Have a role model. Convert your weaknesses into strengths – and then win”

Thought 195: The holistic approach to life (Continued)

2011-10-28T15:12:00.000-04:00

Part 10 - Moral Values And Principles

- Remember, "Good reputation is some thing that has to be earned but honor is something that must not be lost"

- "Forget injuries but never forget kindness"

- "Forgiveness warms the heart and dulls the sting"

- Never say one thing and mean another

- Have some values in life. Write them down for clarity. Commit yourself to them.

- Values should not be compromised or diluted. They should be guarded jealously

- Defend your values even if such a defense may cause you suffering. This suffering gives you moral courage and strength of character, which are extremely valuable

- When there is a conflict between "being right" and "being happy"

* "be right" where values are concerned

* "be happy" in every thing else - they are all negotiable

The holistic approach to life (Continued)

Thought 195: The holistic approach to life (Continued)

2011-10-19T12:09:00.002-04:00

Part 9 - Managing Your Life (Continued)

- Good managers do not repeat a mistake. They may make a new mistake

- Have goals and write them down

- You are "Managing" your life or family or your business, if you set goals and set about to achieve them. A sense of purpose will then guide all your efforts. Otherwise, you merely, "Run" your life, or family or institution, without any direction. You become rudderless

- Set yourself some goals and use your resources wisely to achieve them. Remember, "time" is your most important resource. It is a non-renewable resource and therefore, has to be used efficiently. Any minute spent in doing a non-essential task, is lost to you irretrievably and your resource is depleted to that extent and becomes unavailable for the use of essential tasks.

- It is easy to manage prosperity. Not much thinking or effort is needed. It is far more difficult to manage adversity. The ability to manage adversity is the real key to success

- Every thought, decision and action has consequences. It is unrealistic to expect to escape consequences after a decision or action. They are inescapable. No one is exempt from this rule

- Maintain an efficient information system. "Your decision is only as good as the information you possess".

- Update yourself constantly. In this technological world, you can quickly become obsolete. Obsolete ideas and persons will be left behind, while the world moves forward

- There can never be an output without an input. Input is in your control - output is not. Therefore, it is futile to worry about the output. If you have to worry at all, it is better to do so about the input

- Efficiency equals output over input and can never be greater than one. That is, the input has to be greater (or at least equal to) than the output. This is a fundamental law of Nature

- A good manager has not only to be efficient but has to be effective as well

- To be effective, you have to be aware of the right things to do

The holistic approach to life (Continued)

Thought 195: The holistic approach to life (Continued)

2011-10-14T10:34:00.001-04:00

Part 8 - Managing Your Life

- Never get locked on to "Trivia" or "Noise". Always zero in to the signal. "Vital few" should always get precedence over "Trivial many"

- Attempt "Excellence". Excellence and Quality are closely related. Do not, however, expect ideal solutions, situations or behavior. It is unrealistic to do so. Remember, there is no ideal gas or perfect vacuum or absolute temperature in the real world

- You may not like some things or certain people. Do not develop strong prejudices against them. It is poor management to do so. It is good management to keep an open mind. You can turn every situation to your advantage. This is good management

- Be objective in every thing. Learn to come out of the frame and then, look at the picture

- Learn to think and encourage the habit of thinking in people around you

- Do not act and think. First, think and then, act

- Be a team player. You have to learn to be a follower first, if you want to be a leader

- Remember, every one makes mistakes - including you. Making a mistake is not a crime. To err is human. Some of us are more human than others

- Do not defend a mistake. Own it gracefully and honestly

- Learn from your mistakes. This experience is very valuable. Remember, "years make age and mistakes make experience"

Thought 195: The holistic approach to life

2011-10-04T08:05:00.001-04:00

Part 7 - Stress Relief

- Meditate twice a day

- Keep your mind and surroundings clean. Cleanliness is godliness

- Listen to soothing or melodious music. Music with a fast beat can generate turmoil in the mind - it does not sooth or relax

- Physical exercise relaxes you very efficiently

- Make conscious and persistent efforts to banish anger, tantrums, prejudices, anxiety, jealousy, hatred and greed. They never solve any problem. On the other hand, they create problems and therefore, stress for you.

- Stop negative thinking as soon as you become aware of it. Identify "NARK" thoughts and cancel them as soon as you identify them

- Be humble, sweet, cheerful, enthusiastic and relaxed. Yoga can relax you quickly and efficiently
- Goals remove vague fears and anxieties. Any stress management program involves goals and their achievement

The holistic approach to life (Continued)

Thought 195: The holistic approach to life

2011-09-27T07:54:00.000-04:00

Part 6 - Dealing With Problems

- Problems are inevitable and are a constant feature of every life. There are no exceptions. No one is exempt

- What is inevitable must be accepted calmly. The calmer we are, the easier it is to deal with problems

- Solving a problem does not leave a vacuum behind. A new problem instantly occupies its place

- Never run away from any problem. If you do, it chases you. If you face it squarely, it usually runs away

- As soon as you encounter a problem or you are able to identify one, the first thing that you should do is to classify it into:
* Vital or Trivial

* Clean or Dirty

- Vital problems should always obtain priority over all others

- "Clean Problems" have ready solutions. "Dirty problems" have to be cleaned before they can be solved

- Until you are able to solve the dirty problems, try to peacefully coexist with them. Frequently, "time" can solve or at least, subdue the intensity of such problems. Panic on the other hand, can intensify their severity

The holistic approach to life (Continued)

Thought 195: The holistic approach to life

2011-09-19T10:39:00.003-04:00

Part 5- Dealing With Circumstances

-Nothing remains static in this world - much less circumstances. Do not despair or panic, if they look dark or menacing right now. They will not remain like that for long. In Nature, things get cycled constantly - for instance, night is followed by day is followed by night and so on.

- Do not imagine that future also will be equally as dark. It is this feeling that causes untold and unnecessary suffering. This is virtually the "living hell" that people frequently experience. This is one more self-defeating option on your agenda. This is totally avoidable

- It is not the situation per se which causes the trauma. Rather, it is our perception of it that often causes stress. Cultivate healthy and positive thinking.

- You are never defined by your circumstances. You are always defined by the way you react to them

- You can do little to prevent an event after it takes place. You cannot wish realities away. Accept realities as they are and deal with them on that basis

- Forget yesterday. Plan for tomorrow. Live happily today. You cannot do better than that. Life is meant to be enjoyed, not suffered through

- "Tough times do not last but tough guys do"

The holistic approach to life (Continued)

Thought 195: The holistic approach to life

2011-09-13T09:42:00.001-04:00

Part 4 - Dealing With People

- "Do not under estimate people merely because they over estimate themselves"

- "Do not talk about people but talk to people". "We are masters of our unsaid words and slaves of those that slip out"

- Never ever make personal jokes about others. If you have to, let the jokes be on you

- Friendships are rarely accidental. They have to be painstakingly cultivated and promoted.

- "Be slow in choosing a friend, even slower in changing"

- Have a small close circle of friends and a large circle of acquaintances. You share freely with the close circle only. Remember, "shared joy is double joy and shared sorrow is half sorrow"

- Every one has strengths and weaknesses. No one should be considered as inferior or superior to any one else but should be respected as a person basically

- We get complexes when we compare our weakness with the strength of others or our strength with the weakness of others. Do not compare. Comparisons cause unhappiness

- Learn to deal politely with people, in general. When necessary, learn to be firm. When it is essential to say"no", have the courage to say so.

The holistic approach to life (Continued)

Thought 195: The holistic approach to life

2011-08-30T12:28:00.001-04:00

Part 3 – psychological needs

- Fear and suspicion are the major causes of conflict. Have no fear (but be cautious). Try and dispel suspicion in others

- You are talking to yourself constantly. If this self-talk is negative, a poor self-image results and you build up a resentment towards others

- Make the self-talk positive and develop a high self esteem

- No one can harm you. By negative self-talk, you harm yourself. Since no one other than yourself can harm you, why have animosity towards others?

- Self-confidence and self-esteem make you look attractive. If you lack them, you look unattractive, even if you are handsome

- Learn to listen when others speak. Do not prejudge and stop listening. Similarly, learn to see and observe

- Often, what you see and hear may give you only misleading information. Try to find the real truth before you come to any firm conclusions

- Do not be guided solely by what others say. Frequently, people say things based on their prejudices or based on their own interests. Develop your own judgement and evaluate their statements objectively before you come to any firm conclusions

- If you try to conform to the expectations of others, you are always allowing them to modify your behavior to suit their interests. This does not allow self-confidence to build within you. Do what you think is in your interest and do not bother about what others think of you

- What people say to you is not so important as what motivated them to say that

- People take psychological positions, generally based on prejudices. Ignoring the position cancels its power.

- We may not be able to control events, but we should certainly be able to control our reactions to them. Do not be too sensitive to your own feelings. Learn to case harden yourself.

- Keep your ego under control. Remember, others too have ego and feelings. Be slow to react but be quick to respond

- Feel no anger but feign anger when necessary

The holistic approach to life (Continued)

Thought 195: The holistic approach to life

2011-08-27T13:00:00.002-04:00

Part1 - The balanced approach

A balanced, harmonious and holistic approach to life is the only way to improve the quality of life. We must attend to all our needs - not just one or two of them - to get anywhere near the synergism that we are aiming at.

A human being lives on several planes - physical, intellectual, psychological or emotional, social, spiritual - and has needs in all these planes. Additionally, he or she has to deal with varied people, circumstances, problems and stresses. Each of them set up different priorities for different persons and every person needs equipment to cope with the demands of these needs and their priorities.

An attempt has been made here to identify some important needs and recommend some useful measures, which, if properly or devotedly applied, can lead to the harmony and balance, needed to the higher quality of life.

The holistic approach to life (Continued)

Part 2 - Physical Health

- Keep teeth and gums clean. Wash after each meal

- Keep eyes healthy. Wash frequently with ice cold water

- Keep body healthy through daily physical exercise

- Have timely and healthy eating habits

- Do breathing exercises daily for at least 15 minutes

The holistic approach to life (Continued)

Thought 194: Resistances in the mind

2011-08-13T15:17:00.001-04:00

Man imposes several limitations on himself - prejudices, self doubt, fear, hatred etc. "I do not like him", "I do not think I can do that", "I hate that" etc - are but a few examples, which are familiar to most of us. These are all like the hurdles in a relay race in athletic meets. These hurdles are firmly etched on your memory. These are the resistances, which make it difficult for you to convert your huge potential - efficiently into achievement. These resistences also cause considerable losses during the process of conversion. What you are able to achieve consequently is far less than what your potential is. These resistances also make it difficult for you to live in the present, undisturbed by the past memories and experiences. Thoughts and feelings of guilt, worry, hatred, anger, anxiety, fears etc lodge you permanently in either the past - the memory lane - or the future - the hide out.

In Nature, any resistance causes friction and loss of energy. According to Dr Sampooran Singh ("Paths of Meditation" - Sri Ramakrishna Math), meditation leads to the liberation from the resistances in the mind - freeing the mind from the past conditioning. Moving from a state of resistance to a state of resistancelessness is a "quantum jump of the mind from logical and scientific reason to unfettered philosophical reason; or from relative (conscious state) to an absolute state ". This is the Super Conscious State.

The electromagnetic spectrum is broadly divided into three regions – ultraviolet region, visible region and infrared region. The sound spectrum too is divided into three regions – ultra sound region, audible region and supersonic region. Similarly, consciousness is also divided, according to Indian Vedaantic philosophy, into three regions – subconscious state, conscious state and super-conscious state. When we are awake, of course, we are in the conscious state. When we are in a disturbed sleep state having dreams, the consciousness exists but in the subconscious state. When we are in the deep sleep, the consciousness is said to be in the super-conscious state. In the super-conscious state, mind is free from all limitations.

Dr Sampooran Singh sees a parallel between Man’s super-conscious state - and material which is in the super-conductive state. When some materials are kept at certain low temperatures, they have no resistance to the flow of electricity and the materials show an extraordinary capability. If we put a little electric current in the circuit under those conditions, it keeps on flowing, as there are no resistances and consequently, no losses. The properties of matter without resistance are described by a completely new set of physical laws. Similarly the state of the mind without resistances also functions in a different dimension altogether. This is called "super consciousness". "The state of the mind without resistance is capable of pure perception and as such, the mind receives the present moment of the chronological “space – time” continuum and there is a continuous flow of present moment only”.

If there are no resistances at all in your mind, there would be no losses and consequently, the entire potential lying dormant in you can get converted into achievement. You are no longer bound by the usual set of natural laws. Since Man's potential is believed to be infinite, imagine how creative and how productive you will be, if that happens.

You certainly can do without prejudices or resistances. You do not need them. Why have them at all and get limited? You have within you an infinite wealth of knowledge. It is in your power to uncover this wealth. Demolish the resistances and experience the great knowledge and happiness, which is the real you.

The next thought is about “The holistic approach to life” (in 10 parts)

Thought 193: Living in the present is difficult

2011-07-31T09:48:00.001-04:00

It is not easy for any one to focus exclusively on any one topic for a reasonable length of time. The nature of the mind is flighty and erratic. It does not like to focus – it enjoys getting distracted. It is like a wild monkey – hopping constantly from one branch to another, randomly.

For instance, while you are in a movie theater, does not your mind drift to the various things that you forgot to do before starting out for the theater or things that you will have to do, as soon as you return home? Have you ever been able to enjoy the movie without any of these distractions? When you are walking, instead of enjoying the walking and the scenario around you, are you not constantly talking to your self, about things that have no connection to the walking or the scenario which is right in front of your eyes? While reading a newspaper, does not your mind suddenly drift over, say for instance, to the things that have been causing you worry at the place of work? While driving to your work, do you recall the times that you escaped getting into accidents because your attention was not on the driving, but was wandering constantly?

Unless, you train your mind properly, it is almost impossible for you to keep it focused on any given topic. Mind simply refuses to focus on any given topic - not even for a few seconds at a time. It never allows you to enjoy the present. Present passes into the past - and if not into the past, it goes into the future, so quickly that you hardly ever notice its surreptitious passage. You feel as if present never seems to arrive for you.

Let us call the interval of time, which merges so quickly with the past or the future without you being aware of it, as "dt" - a very useful concept of calculus. The concept is that this "dt" is infinitely small. This "dt" is the "present" that you have been missing.

The next thought is about “Resistances in the mind”

Thought 192: Life is meant to be enjoyed

2011-07-24T16:49:00.001-04:00

There is more to life than spending all your time worrying about the future or feeling guilty over the past. You must enjoy friendships, relationships, your work, hobbies, the bliss of marriage and children, exercise, entertainment, vacation, nature, gardening, reading and a host of other things that make life colorful, fulfilled and exciting. You can experience all these wonderful things provided you stop living in the past and future - and start living in the present.

It is believed that a human being is a single input device. When you are focusing on doing some thing at this moment, you cannot do or think of any thing else. If this is so, then, living in the present becomes a very interesting experience. Suppose, you are able to concentrate completely in reading a book. If you fully focus on this reading, how can you worry at the same time, about some thing that is going to happen in future? You will, then, experience the joy of reading. Similarly, if you are playing tennis and you are thoroughly immersed in the joy of playing, how can you feel guilty, at the same time, about things that happened a while ago? You feel the exhilaration of playing tennis only when you are immersed in it completely and exclusively.

The next thought is about “Living in the present is difficult”

Thought 191: Those who run away from the Present have no where to hide comfortably

2011-07-21T17:59:00.001-04:00

Most people facing a difficult situation today would start imagining that their lives are going to be like this for ever and get immobilized over this unrealistic scenario that they paint for themselves. They would build continuously over these imagined difficulties and fears - keep on magnifying them. The negative and unrealistic scenario that they have painted for themselves, frightens them so much, that they begin to hide in the future.

When you are afraid to face the realities of the present, you want to somehow run away, as soon as possible, to your safe haven, which is the future. Such persons know that they are safe in the future because it never happens - it is only the present that happens in reality. You want to hide in the future for fear of the reality of the present. Such persons never realize that life's processes are never static – they are always dynamic. Circumstances keep changing constantly and if they have a difficult period today, they are going to have a happy period tomorrow. Night must be followed by day. This is Nature's law.

Again, when they are in the future, they begin to imagine that it is also pregnant with several calamities. Since you have a low self-esteem, you feel that you cannot cope with those calamities. Such persons are also not happy being in the future. They feel devastated sometimes. In bewilderment, they run now hopefully back to the past. When they are in the past, they start feeling guilty about their past mistakes. Thus, they find that they are not happy being in the past either. They are not peaceful and happy – in any time period. When one keeps running back and forth in this manner, between future and past, life virtually becomes intolerable for this person; the quality of life fro such persons is obviously very poor.

If you are always living either in the past or in the future, when will you live in the present and experience the joy of living? Why do you like to see yourself always in a flashback? If not the flashback, you like to sit in the time machine and simulate future in it.

The next thought is about Life is meant to be enjoyed

Thought 190: Insecurity breeds fear

2011-07-15T20:20:00.001-04:00

Fear of the unknown perhaps is one single big cause of all neurotic behavior. Dr Joseph Murphy in his book, "The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind", writes, that there are only two fears with which a person is born. These are, the fear of falling down and the fear of noise. All other fears are acquired. Dr Robert Anthony writes in his book "Super Persuation" that you will have no confidence in your self - and you will feel insecure, mostly because of four fears, and they are fear of failure, fear of appearing ridiculous, fear of exposing the ego to hurt and fear of rejection.

Most of us have a measure of insecurity within us and some people have a tendency to get neurotically concerned over it. You worry excessively about future events in your life –
what happens if you get sick,
how can you support your family if you lose your job,
what if your son gets into bad company and takes to drugs,
what if you suffer a loss in your investments

and so goes on the list of imagined calamities. Such fears are called irrational fears. This fear psychosis due to irrational fears becomes more and more intense, when you begin to live in dread of the future. This is usually the result of, amongst other things, low self esteem.

The next thought is about “Those who run away from the Present have no where to hide comfortably”

Thought 189: You were programmed as a child

2011-07-01T16:11:00.002-04:00

When a child is born, it comes into this world with a clean slate. It has no knowledge about this world. It is eager to learn about the world it has come to live in and therefore, tries to learn as fast as it can. Starting from the moment it is born, it observes every thing around it very keenly, which is how it learns. The fact that it does not know the language does not really stop its learning process. It is now accepted that even for the adults, the words carry only about 8% of the message. The rest is carried through the body and voice languages - and the child is good at reading the body and voice languages.

Most people are conditioned from early childhood to focus on the negatives. Parents, who are the role models for the child, constantly display negatives, which the child readily absorbs. Worry, anxiety, guilt, impatience, criticism, anger, hatred, greed, revenge, jealousy, excessive ego, self pity, are some of the negatives that constantly pervade the conversation of the parents, teachers, baby sitters and others, such as relatives and friends of parents, in the presence of the child. All these are picked by the sensitive antennae of the child and they are entered permanently into its mind.

Thus, although the child is born without any negatives, it gradually picks these destructive negatives before it is four years old. It gets programmed on this basis and this is the software that drives the child all through the later years of its life. This becomes the foundation for the quality of one’s life. No attempt is ever made later to unlearn or cancel the effect of these negatives.

This early childhood negative foundation constantly undercuts your attempts to learn a new way of life later. It keeps away creativity from you, because creativity has to be nurtured in a supporting environment, in which, open mindedness, cheerfulness, encouragement and similar positive attitudes prevail. Very rarely, however, does the child observe these and similar positive attitudes such as love for others, positive views about people in general, tolerance for different views, sense of humor, confidence, tranquility, excellence, perfection, etc in her young life. The child is hardly ever encouraged to look at nature and appreciate it. It does not learn to wonder about the magnificent creation around it, like the flowers or the rainbow or moonlight or any such natural, delightful and beautiful phenomena of this world. In those rare families, where the child gets exposed to positive views, that child, of course, grows up based on that foundation.

The next thought is about “Insecurity breeds fear”

Thought 188: Greed makes you shameless

2011-06-23T20:27:00.001-04:00

Unless you put in the bank first, you cannot withdraw. This is more so in human relationships. Overdrafts are rarely allowed in human relationships. In human relationships, there are no one-way streets also. This is understood very well by every adult – although a child may not understand and conform to such adult norms.

A child is usually very selfish – and greedy. The child takes everything from the parents (society) without contributing anything to the society and the society readily grants whatever the child wants. But the society scorns at the grownups when they indulge in a child-like behavior - prompted by greed and selfishness.

Greedy persons try to take everything they can get freely from others. They do not mind what others think of them; greed makes them immune to shame. I know one woman who took away all the jewelry of her mother (when mother passed away suddenly), which she should have shared equally with her sibling. She also had hidden all the legal papers relating to the family property when the father died a few years later– and quietly took a power of Attorney from the sibling ostensibly with honest intentions, but actually she had no real intention of sharing the family property also (such as house sites, stocks, buildings) with the other lawful claimant. All property disputes between children when the parents are gone are of this nature only. This is what Duryodhana did to the Paandavas.

The next thought is about “You were programmed as a child”

Thought 187: Tough times do not last, tough guys do

2011-06-18T08:17:00.002-04:00

You can handle happiness all by yourself - you do not need outside help for this. But people flock to you at these times, like the flies on the sweets in a sweets shop in India, with offers of unsolicited help. When adversity visits you, however, you could do with some outside help; you could do with some moral support at least. It is at such times that people avoid you scrupulously. They do not want any part of you. You are severely left alone - to manage the difficult times all by yourself. Some may even gloat, saying, "at last he got what he should have got long ago".

It is at these times that persons with no moral and ethical values break down. They get into self-pity mode. Some persons may even get into depressions. But those with values in life, remain unperturbed even during the toughest times. The five Paandava kings showed us (in Mahaabhaarat) by their calm behavior during all the 14 years they were forced to spend in jungles - when their kingdom was usurped by their crooked cousin, Duryodhana. The Paandavas faced tough times with “a Prayer, positive thinking and patience”(the three P’s formula of Sashi, my daughter)

Thoughtful parents do their best to instill values in their children. Values build character and strength. When you have character and strength, it is not too difficult to go through tough times.

The next thought is about “There are no overdrafts in human relationships”

Thought 186: You like to hear good things said about you

2011-06-04T11:07:00.001-04:00

It is a common human failing to hear good things said about oneself – and never hear bad things said about oneself. My former boss, Brigadier Chakravarti used to say, "If you have to talk about me at all, talk good things about me. You make sure that you talk well about me - to someone who will convey to me all those good things you said about me. At best, I would hear about it and like you immensely. At worst, I will probably suspect that you are flattering me for a purpose. But I cannot do anything to you when you talk good about me. I certainly can't be unpleasant to you because you are talking well of me! You see how helpless people become when you talk well of them". This is a very profound statement.

He also added, "But if you have to talk ill about me, only talk to yourself and not in front of any other person, however close he is to you today. These things have a way of coming back to me". I asked him, "What happens if they come back to you? How do you react? Would you believe what you hear?" He said, "You know people are like elephants - they have big ears but small eyes. After all, remember, I am also human, like any one else. When the opportunity comes, naturally, I will fix you!"

The next thought is about “Tough times do not last, tough guys do”

Thought 185: People always talk - it is their prerogative

2011-05-31T17:07:00.000-04:00

People are always talking - whether you like what they are talking or not. They are talking about everything, about everyone - even about themselves too. When they talk about themselves, it sounds like they are blowing their own trumpet.

They say that god has given us two eyes to see better, two ears to listen better but only one mouth to talk less! But this maxim is followed more in its breach than in compliance.

People talk - all the time. It is their right to talk. You may or may not like to listen to it. It is your right too - not to listen. Anything that you do in life becomes the concern of others. If you do well, it is talked about - some with admiration and others with jealousy. If you do not do well, it is also talked about - some with sympathy, others with a satisfaction that at last you are getting at least now - what you deserved to get long ago.

The next thought is about “You like to hear good things said about you”

Thought 184: Certain backgrounds result in certain types of behavior

2011-05-28T09:50:00.001-04:00

When the baby calls the father "bad boy, daddy", the father not only does not complain, but he actually enjoys being called a "bad boy". He tells his wife proudly that the child is calling him a "bad boy". But were the child to call him a "bad man" 20 years later, he would have an entirely different response. There was no reaction to the baby calling him a "bad boy daddy", because there was an appreciation of the background from which the baby called him names. The background is innocence. Even when the older boy calls him a "bad man", there is perhaps a background - but the father is not willing to understand and accommodate this background.

Every person comes from a given background - and certain backgrounds result in certain types of behavior. With a certain kind of father, mother, associates, relatives, schooling, other environmental factors that went into a person's upbringing, he gets programmed in a unique way - and consequently, he behaves in a correspondingly unique way. With a similar background, I too would behave the same way as this person. That type of consideration of another person's background as the basis of my responses is what I call maturity.

But the great thing about a human being is that his childhood programming can be "undone". As an adult, I can always reprogram myself and change the habitual behavior patterns rooted in my childhood. This, of course, requires an intense internal urge to reprogram myself.

My response to a behavior depends on whether or not, I am able to understand and appreciate why the person is behaving the way he does. If I can appreciate the background, I will perhaps have sympathy for him. Or else, I will be angry. Sympathy gives rise to accommodation. Anger results in reaction – and resentment.

It is not easy to understand a person; it requires a great deal of patience. I know people, who have been very close friends for over a decade, becoming enemies suddenly. Both are unwilling to understand and accommodate each other - now. They were able to understand and accommodate each other until the hostility arose between them.

If one is willing to understand the background, he will try to accommodate. With a proper understanding of the background, he will refrain from reacting - and start responding.

The next thought is about “People always talk - it is their prerogative”

Thought 183: Every culture has its rules

2011-05-25T20:34:00.000-04:00

The rules of Dharma are simply “ethics or moral values”. These ethics are especially concerned about values that should be instilled in children, when they are still young and impressionable. Some of you may question as to how we can succeed in life, if we operate with such highly principled norms, in the work places, which are invariably infested with ruthless and sometimes, even savage operators. I understand that the work place culture is a jungle culture – and I also understand that there are predators in every jungle. This thought, however, may clarify all such doubts.

We all have a family. We all have friends too. We all work also. Mostly, we operate in these three environments only.

These three environments invariably are quite distinct – dominated by their own distinct and unique cultures. Whatever culture we have in our family environment, for instance, does not prevail in the work environment. Every work place culture is unique to the particular work place only. Dealing and wheeling, however, is a common feature of the work place culture. “If I do this for you, what will you do for me in return” is the rule there. Every work place has its own politics and polarizations. Even in such work places, there may be individuals, who follow certain unquestionable ethics, but these are the exceptions to the rule.

Every culture has its own unique rules. Every culture has also its own unique ethics. It is Dharma when you follow the ethics and rules of a culture – no matter what they are.

When we are not aware of this fact, we tend to apply the ethics and rules that are applicable at home to the work place and vice versa. Consequently, when we do not get the expected responses, we are subject to disappointments, frustrations and conflicts. When there is no confusion about what ethics and rules we should follow in each culture, however, we are peaceful and happy.

Among friends too, we find both types of cultures. In some, we find a culture similar to what prevails in our own family - and in others, we find a business-deal type of culture. It is essential to clearly distinguish and recognize the type of culture in which the friend wants to operate. Here again, when there is no confusion, there are no disappointments, frustrations and conflicts.

Further, among the friends, there are two categories – those who are close friends, and those who try to pass for close friends, while in reality they are only acquaintances. A close friend does good without expecting any return. An acquaintance wants a return for every small thing he does for you; it is always a business deal with him. Here again, when we do not understand or recognize this fact, conflicts arise – and we are unhappy.

A similar confusion arises in relationships also. A relative should basically be a good friend – when only the relationship becomes a lasting relationship. Otherwise, it is either business relationship or a relationship marked by a series of ego trips - neither contributing to your happiness.

The next thought is about Certain backgrounds result in certain types of behavior.

Thought 182: The James Bond philosophy

2011-05-14T11:43:00.001-04:00

When you hit a tennis ball hard on the ground, it bounces up. The greater the force with which you hit it, the higher it rises.

There are some people who are like the tennis ball. They consider every crisis as a challenge. The more severe the challenge, the more thrilled they are. The James Bond disposition – the 007 spirit. When you see the hair raising experiences of James Bond in his thrillers, you wonder how anyone can go through such nerve wracking experiences, with such brash unconcern to danger. But he does, with his unflappable disposition and temperament, which help him to wriggle out of those incredibly tense situations, unscathed. Imagine what would have been his condition, had he broken down, under the pressure of any of those testy moments, with self pity!

The episodes of James Bond may sound bizarre, but they have their uses too. They tell you that, if you do not panic and you do not indulge in self pity, you have the potential to improvise a solution to any difficulty or problem. I believe that life must have its thrilling moments – if only to recount to your grand children, sitting in front of the fire place, during the long winter evenings.

The next thought is about “Every culture has its rules”

Thought 181: Living in future is escaping the present

2011-05-10T17:59:00.001-04:00

Insecurity is basically due to the fact that we are always living in future. We begin to imagine all sorts of horrible things happening to us when tomorrow comes. We live so much in dread of the future that we miss the present completely. We forget that we will never experience future; we can only experience the present. Why worry about something that we are not going to experience at all?

This excessive anxiety about the future makes our “present” miserable. Just as our past inputs (our hard work, our education, our training, our culture, and all similar inputs) alone determine our present and our present inputs alone determine our future. If the present inputs are defective because of the undue anxiety over the future, naturally, the future will not be good – making it a self-fulfilling prophesy. If we stop worrying about the future outcome, we can attend to the present inputs properly. If we have to worry at all, we should worry about the present inputs (are we giving the proper and timely inputs or not) – and not about their outcome. The output is directly proportional to the input. That is law of nature.

For the escapist and the pessimist, however, every little disappointment spells the doomsday. The habit of martyrdom is such that any little incident is enough to get them into a fit of despondency. If the car breaks down on the road, they get moody. If the collar button snaps while putting on the shirt during the morning rush, they throw a tantrum. If the child were to get a bad grade in the school, they work themselves into a temper.

It is the insecure and the pessimistic mind, which has too many irrational fears about the future. We do not know whether there is really a place called Hell. Probably not. With this type of mind, we do not have to look far for it – it is right in our minds only. We will be unnecessarily putting our minds through the wringer and suffer, when there is no reason at all for us to suffer. This type of mind makes the quality of the mind very poor. It is a very beautiful world out there. We should enjoy it. The lord has created it for our enjoyment. But are we enjoying? No. We are completely missing the present – for the future. We are content to merely add years to life – we never think of adding life to years”.

The next thought is about “The James Bond philosophy”

Thought 180: Escapism is the way of life for some persons

2011-05-04T17:02:00.001-04:00

The escapist is always trying to escape from the real world – does not wish to face even the simplest problems of life. He likes to ignore them like the ostrich – putting its head in the sand and hoping that there are no enemies around. He is basically a frightened individual – who is scared to face any unpleasant situation in life. He wants to convince himself, however, that he is a brave guy, by creating a make-believe scenario, like my friend Partha.

We were living some years ago in a camp on the hills near Dehradun, India. The houses were temporary structures. The bathrooms were outside in the open, slightly away from the main house. My friend, Partha, was fond of mystery novels written by Sexton Blake and James Hadley Chase. In mysteries, villains are always sending rattle snakes, through the gap between the outside door and the floor board, to kill the detective. He used to imagine that some one is out there to do the same to him. So, he is to design a unique redundancy in his safety precautions. His form of redundancy is some thing like this. In the olden days, in addition to the side flap and button, we used to have metal buckles and flaps on both sides of the pant. Then we also used to have loops for the leather belt. Reinforce all these with elastic suspenders too. On top of this, just in case, put your two hands in your two pant pocket!

At nighttime, Partha was in the habit of reading himself to sleep. While lying in bed and reading the thrillers that he was fond of, he used to get frightened; really frightened. Based on the above redundancy philosophy, he used to get up and stuff some old clothes tightly into the gap between the door and the floor board. He is still not quite satisfied. He used to imagine that the electricity may go off suddenly. So he used to keep a battery powered torch light under his pillow – just in case. But then, these battery cells are always unreliable. So it is safer to keep a candle and a box of matches handy near the bed on a table. Finally, when he puts of the light and tries to go to sleep, he finds that he can’t sleep. After tossing in the bed for sometime, he finds that he has to visit the bath room outside. But he is scared to venture outside all alone to the bath room. What to do – what to do? He hits on a plan. He pinches his small son (one year old), who is sleeping in the adjacent bed with its mother. The baby starts crying. His wife gets up and puts on the light. And there is now not only enough light but also sufficient noise to scare away the midnight marauders, lurking outside. He then bravely opens the main door to go outside to the bath room.

The escapist hates to face the real problems of this world; on the other hand, he is happy to create for himself imaginary problems - and spends his time happily solving the problems that are not there.

The next thought is about “Living in future is escaping the present”

Thought 179: The Pessimists of this world

2011-04-30T12:36:00.001-04:00

There are always, of course, the Charlie Browns (the cartoon Character) of this world, who hold their heads in both their hands, with a deep furrow on their forehead, every time when things do not go as planned or as wished. Such people always think, “Heaven is going to fall on the earth” right now - if what they wished does not happen. They wallow in self pity and think that they have been singled out to suffer in this cruel world – while all others (who, in their perception, have no talent or who committed worse blunders or who are crooked) are getting everything that they never deserved. They lament that they are born only to become the Martyrs of this world. These are the pessimists of this world who find no joy in life - and constantly whine, saying, “Life, where is thy sting?”

Such persons regularly predict the Doomsday (called Pralaya in Sanskrit). I remember how every body predicted that the computers will stop working on the first day of this Millennium and consequently, the technological world would come to a stand still suddenly and catastrophically - but there was no such problem, of course, to the utter disappointment of these pessimists. If there was a bomb blast somewhere in India, they say “That is it – we are all going to die soon”. The pessimist is basically frightened of life. His problems are usually ‘tiny and tidy’ – but he paints them to appear as “big and dirty” to the world. He spends his time happily addressing these “big and dirty” problems that are not there.

The pessimists of this world always see “the glass is half empty with water”. They only see the dark clouds in the sky - but fail to see even the silver lining in those dark clouds. The Charlie Browns of this world essentially are not only pessimists but are also cowards; they are always overwhelmed by the problems of the world – and feel helpless. Being frightened of life, they stew themselves in their own self pity. They portray themselves as the martyrs, who bear the cross for the sins of the world - and glad to do so. They have an attitude which proclaims to the world that they do not mind crucifixion to save the humanity.

The next thought is about “Escapism is the way of life for some persons”

Thought 178: The enthusiastic and optimistic people of this world

2011-04-26T19:10:00.001-04:00

Enthusiastic people love whatever they do - regardless of the rewards involved. They do not waste tears on, "if only". They live each moment whole-heartedly - finding pleasure in every thing and feeling good all the time. They move about "with a sparkle in the eye, a dance in their step and a song on their lips", all the time. They always see the “The water in the glass is half full”. Even when facing adversity, they feel that they can somehow take advantage of it and rise higher, like the ball, which, when hit on the floor, rises high. The harder it is hit, the higher it rises.

Never let the adverse circumstances make you negative. Do you, for instance, ever plan for failure; never. No body does that. All the same, failures do occur every now and then – especially when you fail to plan. You must realize that all failures are accounted by the uncertainties of life on this planet. If we can look into the next page in life, we will never fail – but unfortunately, the crystal ball never works. Those who give up when they face a failure or a setback - are the losers of this world. Most losers are quitters and quitters never win. Also, winners never quit – although they may lose sometimes.

Always be positive. Always be objective. Always be happy. Always be enthusiastic. Always be cheerful. Let enthusiasm and cheerfulness be your hallmarks and constant companions - like the Sruti of a musician. When you do that, you are no longer overwhelmed by the world and its uncertainties and its adversities.

I am an optimist – a double distilled optimist at that. Therefore, I always say to my children, lose anything but your enthusiasm and cheerfulness. Sing in the bath room. Say good morning to every one you see – you need not know them. Always pump out an outstretched hand several times enthusiastically. Never miss an opportunity to say “thank you”. If you can say “thank you” to god daily, through a prayer, it is even better.

The next thought is about “The Pessimists of this world”

Thought 177: Always be polite, be consistent, be firm and do not be afraid to say “No” when needed

2011-04-23T12:58:00.001-04:00

It takes all sorts of people to make this world. No individual is like any other individual – the good lord created this world unequally for some reason. It is not realistic to expect every one to be like us or follow our standards.

It is natural for some people to be nice and polite, while some others are a little rough in their manners. Learn to deal politely with people, even if they have rough manners. When necessary, learn to be firm. Even when you have to be firm, be politely firm.

Never say one thing and mean another. This confuses people – especially, the children. Also be consistent in whatever you say. If there has been a mistake, have the courage to own it - and to correct it.

When you are convinced that you are right, you do not have to apologize to any one for anything. Have the courage of your convictions to defend your stand, when you are convinced that you are right.

It is the easiest thing to say “Yes” for everything and to every one. When it is essential, however, you must have the courage to say, “No”. Successful managers understand how important it is to say, “No”, when needed. I know of a close relative of mine who could never say “No” to any one. When you cannot say “No”, you get into stressful situations – because you will not be able handle the complications that arise from saying “Yes” when you should not have said “No”. At one stage, he could not handle the build up of the stress any further; he had a heart attack; the body and the mind could not handle the ever increasing stress, which was kept bottled up in him over long period of time.

The next thought is about “The enthusiastic and optimistic people of this world”

Thought 176: Image, reputation and honor

2011-04-19T17:04:00.003-04:00

Every one is conscious of the image he is generating. He wants others to think well of him. There is nothing wrong in this. In fact, it is good to be image-conscious. After all, we live in a society, which values a good image. A good image helps one to advance in his or her career. He also gets respect in the society.

Reputation is different. It is connected with renown, standing, position and name. It is public recognition of one’s abilities and achievements. It is what is thought of by others about a person.

Every one is conscious of the image he is generating. He wants others to think well of him. There is nothing wrong in this. In fact, it is good to be image-conscious. After all, we live in a society, which values a good image. A good image helps one to advance in his or her career. He also gets respect in the society.

Reputation is different. It is connected with renown, standing, position and name. It is public recognition of one’s abilities and achievements. It is what is thought of by others about a person.

Honor is something else – it is connected with integrity. Honor engenders a great respect and a high public regard. It is reputation for honesty, morals, values and character. Honor is when moral tones are added to the image and/or reputation.

They say that while reputation is something that must be acquired, honor is something that must not be lost.

The next thought is about “Always be polite, be consistent, be firm and do not be afraid to say “No” when needed”

THought 175: There is a difference between friends and acquaintances (Continued)

2011-04-16T09:11:00.002-04:00

Everyone has a fairly large circle of acquaintances - although they are erroneously called friends. These are relationships of convenience. Nothing more binding than that. This bond is not designed to endure. This is true for most of our relatives too. The acquaintances are not really interested in you, except to say "hello", and spend a few minutes pleasantly enough in your company, when you both happen to be thrown together. You also reciprocate on the same basis. You judge them and classify them into good and bad. Your interest ends there.

You know that when they say nice things about you, they do not really mean what they say. Most of them would say what you like to hear. When they say something to please you, there is always an angle to it. They are hoping to gain something at your expense. They always expect you to put in the bank first before they consider doing you a good turn.

Every person should have a small circle of close friends and relatives (who are more friends than relatives). Good friends rarely happen by chance. You have to develop them carefully. These people are willing to sacrifice their comfort and anything else to rally round you, when you need them most. This is the reason why they say that "A friend in need is a friend indeed".

Friends do not always have to talk sweetly to you. But they value your feelings and friendship – and they will not hurt your feelings for any reason. All of you operate on the "same net" and on the "same frequency", share the same values and principles, have the same respect and concern for each other and help each other without expecting any returns.

Friends care - and that is what friendship is all about. They are loath to gain anything at your expense; they never think of exploiting their friendship with you. On the contrary, they do not hesitate to sacrifice something for you. In fact, they become concerned at your losses. They warn you if they see you being exploited. They may not bother to couch these warnings in a polished language - they do not mind if their warnings sound a little harsh. In fact, they design these warnings to sound a little rough to have the right impact on you. If you mistake these sounds, you are the loser.

Friends will not judge you. They will not be harsh on you for your weaknesses and failings. They accept you “lock, stock and barrel”; they accept your assets as well as your liabilities (strengths and weaknesses). These friendships are based on strong bonds. If they sense that you do not respond on the same basis, they withdraw. If they do that, it is your loss. These friendships are not one way alleys – this friendship road is designed for two-way traffic.

In close human relationships, people do not have to deposit goodness first in the bank - although they invariably do. You get a lot of overdraft here. Beware if someone, who is not your close friend, talks sweetly to you. He wants something from you or he wants to gain something at your expense.

Do not misunderstand if a friend talks to you harshly. He is trying to warn you of some impending danger, of which, you are not aware. Therefore, it is not what a person says that is important - rather, it is what motivated him to say that, which is more important. The next thought is about “Image, reputation and honor”

Thought 175: There is a difference between friends and acquaintances (Cont.)

2011-04-12T16:24:00.002-04:00

People generally mistake acquaintanceship for friendship. A friend is one on whom you can rely in a crisis. You cannot do so on an acquaintance. A friend is always ready to lend a hand - without expecting any return. With acquaintances, however, the ‘give and take’ is more a business deal – “If I do this for you, what will you do for me”?

Some people believe that relatives are more important than friends. Relatives are good – but only when they behave like friends. Every one needs friends. One could do without relatives.

Culture plays an important role in all friendships. Friendships last long only when there is a cultural compatibility. Small differences in culture can perhaps be accommodated, but large differences are hardly ever accepted by either party. This is the reason why friendships are rarely accidental – they have to be painstakingly cultivated and promoted.

You have to be constantly on the look out for persons with cultural compatibility - and when you find one, do not let him go. Cultivate him carefully with a view to developing a lasting friendship. It is not easy to find culturally compatible friends, but when you do - stick to him like a leech.

Generally, it is a good policy to be slow in choosing a friend – and even slower in changing one. Generally, it is also a good policy to have a small circle of close friends but a large group of acquaintances. We share freely our sorrows and joys only with the close friends’ circle. Remember, “A shared joy is double joy and a shared sorrow is half sorrow”

The next thought is also about “There is a difference between friends and acquaintances (Continued)”

Thought 175: There is a difference between friends and acquaintances

2011-04-09T09:41:00.002-04:00

People generally mistake acquaintanceship for friendship. A friend is one on whom you can rely in a crisis. You cannot do so on an acquaintance. A friend is always ready to lend a hand - without expecting any return. With acquaintances, however, the ‘give and take’ is more a business deal – “If I do this for you, what will you do for me”?

Some people believe that relatives are more important than friends. Relatives are good – but only when they behave like friends. Every one needs friends. One could do without relatives. Culture plays an important role in all friendships. Friendships last long only when there is a cultural compatibility.

Small differences in culture can perhaps be accommodated, but large differences are hardly ever accepted by either party. This is the reason why friendships are rarely accidental – they have to be painstakingly cultivated and promoted.

You have to be constantly on the look out for persons with cultural compatibility - and when you find one, do not let him go. Cultivate him carefully with a view to developing a lasting friendship. It is not easy to find culturally compatible friends, but when you do - stick to him like a leech.

Generally, it is a good policy to be slow in choosing a friend – and even slower in changing one. Generally, it is also a good policy to have a small circle of close friends but a large group of acquaintances. We share freely our sorrows and joys only with the close friends’ circle. Remember, “A shared joy is double joy and a shared sorrow is half sorrow” The next thought is also about “There is a difference between friends and acquaintances (Continued)”

Thought 174: We are all transceivers

2011-04-02T16:27:00.003-04:00

We are all transceivers; we transmit as well as we receive “thoughts signals”, without our knowledge, of course. We have invisible antennae, which facilitate receiving thoughts as well as transmitting thoughts. In certain places or occasions especially, our antennae become very sensitive – they pick up signals very easily and radiate signals equally easily.

For instance, devotees go to a temple out of Bhakti. When they enter the temple, their thoughts are full of Bhakti, which they radiate unconsciously. The temple environment is full of such pious thoughts transmitted similarly by the other devotees who visit the temple –which you receive and which sometimes may even resonate in your mind. All devotees are generally tuned to the “temple radio station” – and therefore, they pick up these signals very easily.

Similarly, when we go to a restaurant for food, we transmit and receive thoughts of enjoyment of good food – and the restaurant environment is full of such thoughts. These “received” thoughts, reinforce our own thoughts of anticipating to eat and enjoy good food – which makes the enjoyment even more agreeable. This is what we mean by the term, “atmosphere” in a restaurant. The same food, if consumed at home, is not so enjoyable. This is the reason why we prefer to go to a temple also. We could have done the prayers at home, but not so effectively.

In the same manner, we also pick up signals at the place of work as well as at home. It is because of this reason, good managers try to keep the atmosphere at the place of work “clean” – meaning, that they ensure that no one radiates negative thoughts, which can vitiate the atmosphere at the work place and make it highly unproductive. Similarly, you do not want your children, for instance, to pick up at home, “the swings in your moods”. If they do, they also imbibe the same qualities when they grow up. Surely, you don’t want that to happen.

Make sure that the children at home pick only the right signals – which are full of enthusiasm, fun, Bhakti, achievement, character, morals, and in short, all the right values, which every parent wants his or her children to absorb and grow up with. The next thought is about “There is a difference between friends and acquaintances”

Thought 173: Timely action is important

2011-03-29T18:56:00.001-04:00

Take, for instance, a student who snoozes all through a semester. When the exams are only a few days away, he finds that he has a lot of work to do. Worry takes over at this stage. Worry does not allow him to concentrate on his studies even at this stage. This increases his worry even further. Expectedly, he does not do too well in the exams. This is a typical scenario when you become alive to events only when it is too late. Here, you are running your life - you are not managing it. You have lost control. You cannot prevent events happening when you come to know about them when it is too late. It is said that some people make things happen, some others watch things happening and the rest ask, "what happened?" You allow a situation to build progressively to a level, when you get frightened by it - and you become stunned into inaction. You allow a crisis to build up and then, feel overwhelmed by it; the Frankenstein syndrome. Human endeavor seems constantly involved in either committing a mistake or correcting a mistake. This is because people are either scared to think or they are plain lazy. The next thought is about “We are all transceivers”

Thought 172: This world is the greatest automated system (Continued)

2011-03-26T11:09:00.002-04:00

This universe is the greatest automated system! Every thing happens automatically, in accordance with an absolutely impartial system of dispensation. Call this as divine dispensation or by any other name that you will, but it is automatic, impartial, universal and certain.

In any automated system, there is no room for inconsistency. The system cannot function automatically, if there is an inconsistency. It is impossible to conceive that a robot or computer, controlling a system, will act in one manner under a given set of circumstances at one time and will act differently to an identical set of circumstances at some other time. Systems with human intervention can be inconsistent but not automated systems. Unlike the human justice systems, in the divine justice system of the universe, there is no magistrate personally watching over each of our actions and dispensing justice. Every thing happens automatically, consistently and surely. No mistakes ever take place here. To err may be human - but the good lord does not make mistakes. He is perfect.

We live in a world that is governed by laws, which are not created by any one in this world. Action and the fruits of action - cause and effect - are governed by laws, which, we may attempt to understand, but never hope to change or modify. The author of these laws is Isvara (the lord who is also the author of this world). He processes all actions in accordance with his laws and delivers the result to us - also in accordance with his laws automatically. Although you have full choice in the action, you have none at all in the result - the result is governed by laws, over which you have no control.

The next thought is about “Timely action is important”

Thought 171: This world is the greatest automated system

2011-03-22T19:14:00.002-04:00

The world is the greatest automated system. The basic principle governing this automation is the cause and effect principle. Cause and effect are not stand-alone systems. If one is present, the other is definitely there. When there is a cause, the effect is surely there – there can never be any effect without a cause. The effect happens automatically when the cause is there.

Every Karma (action) is the cause and every experience that you get in life is the effect of some Karma that you performed earlier. A Karma signifies not only your physical actions, but also your thinking and speaking. All of them produce results for you.

Every Karma produces a result for you - automatically. For instance, when you jump out of the window from the 10th floor of a building (without the aid of technology, of course), you get hurt (which is the effect) – and this is certain to happen every time you jump out of the window. The Karma is the cause and the result (effect) of this Karma is your getting hurt. The effect occurs automatically, when a cause exists.

This is not a rule made by any one here. We may try to understand this rule but can never hope to change or modify it in any way. When a Karma is performed, the fruits of Karma are inevitable and inescapable. Once you perform a Karma, you cannot refuse to receive its result. In fact once a Karma is performed, the result is automatically released – in the same way that a bullet is released as soon as you fire a rifle.

You are experiencing the results of your past Karmas now. Your present Karmas decide what you will get in the future. If you are having good life such as a good job, a lot of money, good spouse, good children, etc, it is the result of good Karmas performed by you earlier. If you want good results in future also, make sure that your present Karmas are also such that produce good results for you. Performing Karmas based on anger, hatred, jealousy, selfishness, arrogance, etc and expecting that you will get good results in future is a fallacy. It never happens.

The next thought is also about “This world is the greatest automated system (Continued)”

Thought 170: If you want to gain something, you must be prepared to lose something else.

2011-03-19T16:53:00.001-04:00

The Mahaa Bhaarat battle was about to start. Arjuna’s chariot was placed between the two opposing armies. After seeing Bhishma, Drona and other close relatives and well-wishers, Arjuna became very despondent – and depressed. How could he kill such noble and venerable persons? If he does not kill them, he cannot win the war – claim his rightful kingdom, which Duryodhana annexed and would not give back without a fight. What should he do in such a situation?

The impending war taught Arjuna that in the relative world, any gain must also involve a loss. By fighting, he would gain his kingdom, but would lose his family. By fleeing the battlefield, he would save his loved ones, but he must sacrifice his fame, which he built up so painstakingly over a life time.

Such conflicting situations arise in every life.

For instance, I was offered an opportunity to become the deputy director of National Laboratory at Delhi in charge of electronic testing – a very prestigious office. At that time, my three sons, Srinath, Vijay and Rajanikanth, were studying engineering courses – at Mysore/Suratkal. Thammu (my foster son) was still in middle school and Sashi, my daughter, was in Intermediate class (12th standard) at Bangalore. Should I accept this offer and shift the last two children to Delhi at this stage?

I felt that shifting Sashi and Thammu to schools/colleges at Delhi was going to disrupt their education to some extent – apart from going too far away from Mysore and Suratkal, where the other children were studying. I felt that Srinath, Vijay and Rajanikanth needed me to be nearer – no more than a night’s journey away from their colleges.

I declined the offer, since I felt that the proper education of my children was a higher priority to me than the advancement of my career. Later, the same office was elevated as the Secretary General in the department of electronics in the government of India – a more prestigious post. However I never regretted my decision. I was also offered the top most place in the Institute of Packaging at Bombay – and I also declined it for the same reasons.

In general, if you want to gain something, you must be prepared to lose something else.

Either of the above conflicting options could be equally wrong or equally right. Since we know that every decision has consequences, we must be prepared for the consequences of either of the options. In such situations, we must be prepared to lose something, if our decision turns out to be wrong. A wavering mind never gains anything, other than unnecessary agony to self and others in the family. Be decisive and take responsibility for your decisions.

The next is about “This world is the greatest automated system”

Thought 169: Criticizing others is not good for you

2011-03-13T17:54:00.007-04:00

Some people are in the habit of criticizing others - even for trifling mistakes. Criticizing with a view to finding fault is not good – it hurts the self-esteem of the other person. When a person is hurt, he never learns; he gets into the defensive mode.

Pointing out mistakes with the intention of making the person improve is OK, provided of course, the other person perceives it as such - positively. However, if he views it negatively, it would only result in eroding his self-esteem.

Most people, who are in the habit of criticizing even for small errors, never think of complimenting a person, even for jobs well done. If you do not compliment excellence, you should not comment on shoddiness also.

Never let go an opportunity to complement people for their accomplishments, however, trifling they are. There is nothing like a compliment to raise one’s self esteem.

The next thought is about “If you want to gain something, you must be prepared to lose something else”.

Thought 168: You be fair to the world but do not be disappointed if the world is not fair to you

2011-03-13T17:54:00.003-04:00

You be fair to the world. Also, you teach the world to be fair to you – whenever you can do so. Even then, if the world is not fair towards you, do not feel disappointed. Mother Theresa never felt disappointed. “That is the nature of the world” says Swami Vivekananda. Many persons tried to reform the world. Although it is a very difficult task, they still tried. Swamiji says that it is like trying to straighten the tail of a dog. The moment you remove your hand from the tail, however, the tail becomes crooked as before. All the same, the Swamiji says “you must try to make this world a better place to live in; you must not give up your efforts because of the initial setbacks. Whether it is good for the world or not, it is certainly good for you - to try to reform the world. It makes you a better person”.

Remember, evil and good always coexisted in this world right from the beginning. Of course, ultimately, it is only the good, which will triumph; the villains get destroyed in the end by the efforts of the hero. Although initially, the evil may appear to have gained the upper hand, in the end, it always gets destroyed. If evil were to win in the end, who will prefer to be good in this world; every one wants to win! This is the history of the world – and the basic theme of every story in the world in every language. The villains get crushed in the end - and the hero emerges triumphantly somehow in the end.

The next thought is about “Criticizing others is not good for you”

Thought 167: The inspection model VS the quality model

2011-02-26T10:14:00.001-05:00

In an inspection regime, we sentence a product, as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ – and accept the good product and throw away the bad product. Here, the emphasis is on sorting out the good from the bad – and keep the good only and dispose of the bad in a suitable manner.

In a quality regime too, we resort to sentencing – products into ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Unlike in the inspection regime, however, the action does not stop at mere sentencing. In the quality regime, additionally, we want to find out, why the bad product was bad in the first place. Having found the cause, we apply corrections to the system – to prevent the future products becoming bad.

Similarly, we label or sentence people also, as ‘good’ and ‘bad’. In case of those persons, in whom we are not interested or who are not close to us, the action stops with the sentencing – as in the inspection regime. However, where closely related persons are concerned, such as the wife, children, etc, we try to find the reason why they are behaving they way they are. Then, we keep on working on them, and with them, where possible, in various ways, to bring about the desired changes in their perceptions and attitudes.

It is not easy to change perceptions and attitudes. It takes a lot of time, effort and agony, to bring about such changes – and therefore, we apply the quality regime only to those few special cases, where we are highly interested. In all other cases, we apply the inspection regime. This is the commonsense approach to life.

The next thought is about “You be fair to the world but do not be disappointed if the world is not fair to you”

Thought 166: Things are never static, they are always dynamic

2011-02-19T12:17:00.001-05:00

Things are never static in this world. This is a dynamic world; things are always changing - matter into energy and energy into matter (This is what Einstein’ equation, E=mc2, implies). There are ceaseless changes taking place everywhere. Take geography for instance. Where there was a sea some years ago, there is land now - and where there was green and fertile land once, it is a scorching desert today. Even within the human body, all the cells are replaced once in three years approximately. Night is always followed by the day. A day is always followed by night. Seasons occur in well-defined cyclic sequences.

Thus, change is the fundamental law of Nature. We constantly see in the life of every person, the fortunate and unfortunate circumstances are changing constantly – they alternate one after the other regularly. If the circumstances are bad today, they are bound to be good tomorrow. These are the dynamics of all life on this planet.

If you are a philosophical and positive person like my daughter Sashi, you will beleive that every change happens for your good only; she believes that tomorrow is going to be alright even if today is a little disturbing. It is said that unless you hit the bottom, you cannot come up. Similarly, unless things become worse, they will not become better. Until they become better, however, Sashi says that you need to resort to her 3 P’s philosophy. The 3 P’s are “prayer, positive thinking and patience (for the good things to happen to you or for the bad things to disappear from your life)”.

I am an optimist and I believe firmly that one should always be optimistic and enthusiastic – amidst these fast changing dynamics. That is the only sensible way of dealing with these fast changes.

The next thought is about “The inspection model VS the quality model”

Thought 165: You may sometimes forget the bad done to you, but never ever forget the good done to you.

2011-02-15T17:00:00.001-05:00

These days, people do not seem to remember the good done to them at all. These are the selfish and self-centered persons, of course. With such persons, you have to be worldly wise – that is, you should be on your guard. In any transaction, whenever there is a great deal of difference in cultural levels between parties, it is highly unproductive to adhere to your higher standards unilaterally (of course, in any case you should not compromising on your basic values); your higher standards are not appreciated by the other party. On the other hand, they laugh at you and try to take advantage of your good nature. I do not like to be laughed at; no one likes to be laughed at.

I find that there is too much selfishness in this world now - than ever before. Is that the way to succeed in the modern society? May be; but I am old-fashioned; and I like to keep my distance from self-centered and selfish persons – whenever possible to do so.

The good Samaritans are those who do good without expecting any thing in return. If you do not expect even a mere “thank you” like Mother Theresa, you go ahead do good to the world. Or else, pause and think for a while, before plunging headlong into the business of doing good to the society.

I, for instance, do not believing in doing good to selfish and greedy persons. I also do not like to give anything to the selfish and greedy persons. Bhagavad Gita says that you should only give away things – only to the deserving persons

When I find that someone deserves a better deal than what he or she is getting, however, I like to help in whatever manner I can. In such cases, I find there is more pleasure in giving than in receiving - but only in such cases.

The next thought is about “Things are never static, they are always dynamic”

Thought 164: Dharma protects and Adharma punishes

2011-02-13T13:34:00.002-05:00

The Isvara, for whatever reason, has given choice to Man. Because he has given choice, man may choose to follow his Dharma or he may also choose to violate his Dharma. If man follows his Dharma, there would be harmony and ecological balance in the world – which, in turn, ensures proper growth and well being of all life in this world. This world would then be a very happy place indeed for all the living beings, who live in it. If, however, man chooses to violate his Dharma, the growth and the well being of the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom especially, will be in jeopardy.

If the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom were to ever come to harm, the human kind also comes to harm. Unaware of the infallible checks and balances built into the Isvara’s system, which detect and punish violations of Dharma automatically, the irresponsible, greedy and selfish elements from the human kind, try to help themselves at the expense of the other components of the ecological system.

The criminal minds always believe that they are going to escape detection and punishment – but it is never allowed to happen in the Isvara’s system. Violators of Dharma get caught inevitably - and punished. But the matter does not end there. The infringement of Dharma, even if caused by only a few irresponsible and selfish individuals, has ramifications on the entire animal kingdom, on the entire plant kingdom and on the entire human kind as well; all of them also pay the penalty for a crime that they did not commit.

Consider, for instance, the fact that a small number of greedy individuals destroy thousands and thousands of acres of forests for their own selfish gain. Not only is it unrepairable loss to the plant kingdom, but it also reduces the wild forest area that legitimately belongs to the animal kingdom and which, the animals need for their survival and growth. Therefore, the animals also suffer. Mindless destruction of forest trees in this manner also leads to droughts, global climate changes, Tsunami, etc – which are detrimental to the interests of the human kind as well. Hence, the society must be alert and must never allow the criminal elements of the society to violate Dharma. Dharma must be protected at all costs.

In fact, all ethical and moral principles, which are an integral part of Dharma, are primarily intended to protect man from harming himself and others on this planet. They serve the profoundest interests of all life on this planet. This is the reason why Hindu Saastras say that if you protect Dharma, it protects you; “Dharmo Rakshati Rakshatah”.

The next thought is about “You may sometimes forget the bad done to you, but never ever forget the good done to you”

Thought 163: Part 4 – Moksha

2011-02-05T14:34:00.001-05:00

As long as a person focuses his mind on the outer world and its attractions, he continues to experience anxiety, agony, sorrow, frustration, anger, hatred, etc, constantly, all the time. Unless the person continues to experience misery of this type for a long, long, time, spanning over a number of Janmas (births), he does not realize that what the outer world has to offer to him is not worth all this misery. A point will then come in his life when he gets completely disenchanted - and it is only then, does he change his focus from the world outside to the world inside. It is only at this stage that he turns his attention to the spiritual goal, which is the last Purushaardha, called Moksha.

People generally think that Moksha is a place like heaven or Vaikuntha or Kailaasa. A few years ago, my wife, Sithadevi, happened to meet with a (self styled) spiritualist at a friend’s house in Ottawa, Canada. During the conversation, he mentioned the term “Moksha”. My wife Sithadevi asked him “what is Moksha, sir”. He pointed his right hand forefinger upwards – implying thereby that it is a place up above - like heaven!

Moksha is not a place at all. Moksha is Aatma Jnanam (the knowledge of the self). When you are ignorant, you think that you are the body-mind complex. If you think that you are the body, the body is going to die one day - and therefore, you die. When you die, you are going to be born again – and even in this new Janma (birth or incarnation), you will die again. Thus, you face death in every Janma (birth or incarnation).

Death causes fear – intense fear. You do not want to die. You want to escape death some how, but you also know that you cannot. Death is inevitable and inescapable – for everything that is born in the space-time dimension. In fact, death is the only certain thing in life on this planet.

When the self-knowledge unfolds in you, you realize that you are not your body-mind complex – but you are the Aatma (Awareness), which has no death – or even birth. This realization is called self-realization (self-knowledge), which is Moksha.

The next thought is about “Dharma protects and Adharma punishes”

Thought 163: Part 3 - Kaama

2011-02-01T19:28:00.001-05:00

You may similarly pursue Kaama (desire for worldly pleasures) also – to satisfy your innate urge for pleasure and enjoyment. All efforts that one makes in this direction are recognized by our Saastras as legitimate activities of life. You may go for them with a clear conscience. But unfortunately, those who take to the sensual pleasures do not know where to stop.

Senses are wild and unruly by nature. They are turbulent when they are not restrained - and it is not easy to restrain them. They take delight in enticing you by seductively dangling sensual objects in front of you. A little taste of sensual enjoyment sharpens your craving for it - and you become a slave to enjoyment. You cannot do without it; it is highly addictive. Therefore, one should not trust his senses. They invariably deceive.

When the senses go out to contact their objects, they carry the mind also with them. Senses make the contact and the mind captures - and gets corrupted. The senses are so powerful that they forcibly carry away the mind of a man of wisdom (Jnaani) also, even while he is striving diligently to restrain them. It is a mere child's play for them to carry away the mind of a self-indulgent person.

Indulgence knows no breaks. When people do not apply breaks, they plunge – they plunge dangerously down the hill. When you apply breaks, you have better control. Breaks give power - power to stop. In self-indulgence, there is no power. In self-control, there is power; it is the moral power. It is called self-control when a person makes conscious attempts to control his senses and his mind.

Thus, unrestrained senses distract and corrupt the mind. A corrupted mind is an unstable mind. The man of wisdom (Jnaani) knows the potential of the senses for mischief. He also knows that mind alone can restrain the senses, but it will not be able to do so, unless it itself gets disciplined first. Unless the mind is properly controlled, there will be no tangible success in your worldly goals – as also, in the spiritual goals for those who have spiritual ambitions.

For the control to be effective, the urge has to come from within; no one from outside can exercise control over your senses and mind. Similarly, you cannot control others; you can only control yourself. It is for this reason that the Hindu Saastras impose certain restrictions on you in respect of the two Purushaardhas, Artha and Kaama. They want you to pursue these two goals strictly within certain moral and ethical bounds – which is what the first goal, Dharma, signifies. In fact, Dharma is the very first goal – which implies that you should first embrace a life style, which emphasizes righteousness, morality and ethical behavior in all your worldly transactions. You may then strive to find fulfillment in respect of Artha and Kaama, while leading a life of Dharma.

Desires for worldly success, pleasure, enjoyment, etc mark the beginning of misery in every life. Worldly experience and wisdom tells us repeatedly that very few desires of a person get fulfilled; the majority remain unfulfilled. It is the unfulfilled desires that cause all the misery to a person. Desires, however, would continue to rule the minds of persons, no matter how much misery they cause. Such is the power of Maayaa on the minds of all mortals.

The next thought is about Purushaardhas (Continued), Part 4 - Moksha

Thought 163: Part 2 – Artha

2011-01-30T15:09:00.000-05:00

It is but natural for every person to have a desire for wealth, success, security and power. People are not going to stop pursuing these desires - even if the religion were to prohibit them. The craving for money and security and power is a fundamental urge in every person, which needs to be satisfied.

Every person wants to earn money; a lot of money indeed. Money unlocks the gates for any kind of worldly enjoyment and worldly power. It is for this reason that the Hindu Saastras have recognized Artha (wealth, power and security) as a legitimate Purushaardha (goal of life). Hindu religion accepts that one can earn as much wealth and power as he likes, by Dharmic means (righteous means), of course - and not by foul means. Swami Vivekananda also says, “If your goal is Artha, go ahead and earn as much money and power as you can. Satisfy your urge for Artha completely, become strong - and then, give up everything”.

The next thought is about Purushaardhas (Continued), Part 3 - Kaama

Purushaardhas (Continued)

Thought 163: Part 1 – Dharma (continued)

2011-01-25T19:55:00.002-05:00

Isvara (God) created along with the Creation (Srishti), the concept and the laws of Dharma (and Karma), which govern the administration of this amazingly complex and infinite universe. This Dharma is an Order (a command structure intended for guidance of human beings) - the Universal Ecological and Moral Order (created by Isvara), which, if followed by all living beings in Creation, ensures harmony, ecological balance, moral standards (applicable for the human kind only), which, in turn, ensure the well being of all life in creation. This concept of Dharma is for the human kind only. Animals follow their Dharma automatically – they have been programmed and sent down here and they lead a choiceless life. Therefore, there is no question of the animals violating Dharma.

Human beings have a choice and therefore, there could be abuse – occasionally or even frequently. Because of the faculty of choice, human beings may perform wrong actions – actions, which violate Dharma. Behind every wrong action, there is a person, who is either frightened or greedy. He is greedy, because he feels small. He is frightened, because he is overwhelmed by the world. Of course, all this is because of ignorance. With the advent of self-knowledge, when that ignorant person is gone, where is the necessity to violate Dharma? Dharma becomes natural for a person, who is free from ignorance. (Swami Dayananda)

In any given situation, there is something to be done, which is appropriate for that situation; everything else is inappropriate for that situation. Swami Dayananda says that action, which is appropriate for a given situation, which we all commonly sense, is our duty; it is our Dharma.

Frequently, we find ourselves placed in situations by Isvara, which are not to our liking; we do not court them. But all the same, we often find ourselves in those problematic and difficult situations in the same way that Arjuna found himself on the battlefield against his will.

The appropriate action in all such situations is highly visible to every intelligent person, who is endowed with some discrimination. He really has no choice here - it is already chosen for him by the given circumstance. He has choice only when he wants to avoid what he has to do in that situation. Thus, in the modern world, doing exactly what is appropriate in any given situation is one’s duty (Dharma). (Swami Dayananda)

Thus, in any given situation, there is a certain response required on your part in terms of action and this becomes your duty. Duty is not something that has to be told by someone to you – much less by the Saastras. It becomes evident as you look at the situation that you are in - and understand it as it is. In this way, what is to be done becomes obvious to you.

In this set of four Purushaardhas (goals), Dharma is the very first goal. You are required to follow your Dharma - while pursuing the next two goals, which are Artha and Kaama.

The next thought is also about Purushaardhas (Continued), Part 2 – Artha

Thought 163: Part 1 – Dharma

2011-01-22T11:03:00.000-05:00

Dharma, which is enjoined duty, is a Vedic concept. In the Vedic times, everyone was expected to perform his/her Dharma. Dharma constituted the very fabric of the Hindu religion; it underscored the very essence of Hinduism. Every person in this world has a number of roles to play – such as father, husband, teacher (Guru), son, daughter, wife, mother, friend, etc. Hindu Saastras have enjoined certain duties for all these roles. And for the Hindus, anything enjoined by the Saastras (Scriptures) is sacrosanct. The modern Hindu, however, is out of touch with the Hindu Saastras (Hindu scriptures).

In general, we may say that it is very difficult now to preserve and justify these ancient models of duty in the modern societies. There are several reasons for this. In the olden days (Vedic times), life was relatively simple, leisurely and very much less complex. In the modern India, however, life has become very difficult and complex - especially in the urban India. The long and agonizing commute every day on the narrow and crowded city streets, to and from the place of work, is a typical example of the complexity of the modern urban life. The need to earn a living by both husband and wife in these days has further compounded this complexity by several orders - and therefore, people find it very difficult to conform to the blueprints of our ancient Saastras.

Hence, most Hindus do not follow the scriptural injunctions now. Their life styles do not leave much scope and time to read the scriptures and conduct their lives in accordance with the rules stipulated in them. They are the victims of the circumstances, which unfortunately make them, either to remain ignorant of the scriptural injunctions, and if they are known, to ignore them.

Thus, in modern India, people do not know what are enjoined duties; and therefore, they do not recognize the ancient notion of Dharma any more. Such ancient religious mandates do not seem to be compatible with the prevailing urbanized, busy culture of today. Even then, a good proportion of the Hindus in India and abroad, worship a god; they do the Puuja (worship), without getting overly concerned about what the scriptures say or do not say about such worship. They do the Puuja based on a tradition – by seeing how others in their family or in their community do or in whatever manner the priest/Guru advises them. These people may or may not follow all the scriptural injunctions completely or meticulously, but they have faith in worshiping a god – and also in the religion.

We are now living in times in which changes are happening – very rapidly. Those, who do not notice these changes and adapt themselves quickly to those changes as they happen, will find themselves left behind. The ancient scriptural models of Dharma, therefore, need revision, if duty (Dharma) is to be taken seriously. Current needs of the society should dictate the nature of Dharma (Duty) for every individual. This makes it important to reinterpret or redefine Dharma to suit the needs of the fast changing modern society.

The interpretation of Dharma may change with time but the concept and importance of Dharma itself does not change – ever, for the Hindus. For them, Dharma is eternal. All Hindus have to perform their Dharma because our religion itself is Sanaatana Dharma (eternal Dharma).

Thought 162: About Purushaardhas

2011-01-19T21:09:00.001-05:00

It is pointless to undertake any important activity without a goal. Therefore, Hindu Saastras have prescribed four goals for every Hindu and these goals are called Purushaardhas. They are:

• Dharma: enjoined duty or obligatory duty
• Artha: Wealth (and power and security)
• Kaama: Sensual pleasure and enjoyment
• Moksha: Liberation from the cycle of birth-death and rebirth

The next thought is about Purushaardhas (Continued), Part 1 – Dharma

Thought 161: Bhagavad Gita says that performing your duty is your Dharma

2011-01-15T23:31:00.001-05:00

Bhagavd Gita is believed to include all the wisdom contained in the Upanishads. This teaching puts utmost emphasis on duty (Dharma). Every one must perform his duty (Dharma); people should never shy away from performing their duty for any reason what so ever. The soldier has duties, which he should perform even at the cost of his own life. The policeman has duties; he should, for instance, apprehend the criminal and put him behind bars, no matter how wealthy or powerful the culprit is. It is the duty of the parent to correct a child when the child is tending to go on the wrong path. The child may resent the correction but this should not deter the parent from doing his duty as a parent. It is the duty of the teacher to teach and make sure that the students are benefiting from his teaching. It is the duty of the husband to protect his wife and it is the duty of the wife to support her husband under all circumstances. Every one should perform his/her duty sincerely – and should never neglect his/her duty no matter for what reasons or no matter how compelling these reasons are.

Arjuna wanted to withdraw from the battlefield – when he saw all his Gurus and close relatives lined up on the battlefield, whom he would have to kill. This vision was most abhorrent to him. Then, Bhagavaan Krishna says, “Arjuna, you are a hero to all ordinary persons. You stand out in history as one of those outstanding characters, not only renowned for your prowess on the battlefield, but also known for your uprightness, manliness, valour, courage, character, devotion and commitment to your duty, and compassion for the weak. Whatever you do, is exactly what others are going to do. If you champion the cause of duty, many of your fans would undoubtedly follow your example - and harmony and stability would flourish in the society for generations”.

“Arjuna, you are a Kshatriya (warrior) – whose duty is to fight in support of Dharma (righteousness). You have come to the battlefield to fight in support of Dharma. If you should abandon the war and retreat from the battle field now, for whatever reason, you would be setting a very bad example. They say, “Yadhaa Raajah, Tathaa Prajah”. The Prajah (people), observing their Raajah (king and leader) running away from his duty on the battlefield, would also abandon their own respective duties. If the role model neglects his obligatory duties, it is noticed. The Praajah also would neglect their obligatory duties”.

“Thus, if you abandon the war now and turn away from the battle field, you would not only be responsible for your own down fall, but you would also be responsible for the spread of “Adharma” in your Prajah. Remember, the mission of Arjuna, the great hero, is eradication of “Adharma” - not promoting “Adharma””.

By asking Arjuna to do what is required to be done in the battlefield situation, Bhagavaan Krishna was telling Arjuna to perform his “Dharma” (his obligatory duty). As`a Kshatrya, it is his obligatory duty to wage the war against Adharma – no matter what the consequences are. He had come to the battle field to fight - and fight he should.

In life, every one has roles that must be fulfilled. Situations do not happen randomly. They happen because Isvara wants them to happen. Because there is something to be done by you, you are placed in a particular situation. This is the law of Karma. This is “Isvarechcha” (desire of God). You cannot run away from what you should be doing. (Swami Dayananda)

The next thought is “About Purushaardhas”

Thought 160: Performing one’s duty is very important

2011-01-08T07:49:00.002-05:00

One’s attitude to work and duty is determined by his character and values. When power and money are the criteria, your whole attitude to work and duty is dictated by those criteria only; that is, duty is valued in terms of what it can get you. Whereas, when ethical and moral living is the main objective, duty becomes sacred. In this concept of duty, there is no demand whatsoever - there are no rewards for duty, other than self-fulfillment.

In ethical and moral living, there is no competition - you do not have to prove that you are better. What job you do signifies nothing; but how well you do it, signifies a lot. And because you bring a certain attitude to it, you love doing the job that is yours to do. What you need is maturity of mind and by performing what is to be done, you would gain it.

In the ancient Hindu society, every one had duties – and performing one’s duty is his Dharma (obligatory duty). Every concept needs a champion. Dharma also needs a champion. The champion becomes the role-model for others in his group or family. A man of truth and integrity, who always goes by his values is unquestionably a leader - he is respected and admired in any society. They hold him in high esteem and he influences the standards of behavior of the society - at all levels.

The role model has followers - who follow him implicitly. Because his followers want to emulate him, he constantly comes under the microscope. He should be aware of this fact and should never do anything that would be wrongly interpreted by his admirers.

At the family level, the parents set the tone of behaviour of their children. If they live a life of high moral values, every one else in the family also lives a life of exemplary values. If the parents are observed to exploit others through lies for self gain, the children also emulate them and tell lies for selfish gains. If the children perceive that the parents are selfish, look after their own pleasures, do not pay attention to the needs of their children, the children also grow up selfishly and neglect the proper upbringing of their own children too. On the other hand, if the parents always sacrifice their own interests and put the interests of the children first and foremost, the children grow up selflessly and the society around them rests on a strong foundation of selflessness and spirit of sacrifice.

A school teacher is a leader to his students. He has a unique opportunity to influence the students at a tender and impressionable age. The children get programmed permanently and it is this program that directs their behaviour in later life. If the teacher is selfish, ignorant and fails to instill proper values and discipline in his students, the students conclude that selflessness, learning, values and discipline need not become priorities in their later lives.

In the work place, a supervisor is the boss to his group of workers. Several such bosses report to a boss at a higher level and this is how the hierarchy is usually organized. A boss is the leader for his group. He sets the tone of the discipline, motivation, dedication, quality and productivity of the workers in his group. If the workers perceive that the boss is highly dedicated to his job, invariably gives higher priority to the work objectives and is genuinely interested in the well being of the workers, the workers also dedicate themselves with equal sincerity to their work. It is truly said that there are no bad soldiers - only bad Generals.

When political leaders scrupulously follow high moral and ethical standards, they develop charisma. Charismatic leaders always galvanize the entire society to uphold high moral and ethical values. They can make ordinary people do extraordinary things. The Mahatma Gandhi, with his emphasis on honesty, sincerity and moral values, galvanized the entire Indian nation to rise against the mighty British rulers. Churchill similarly galvanized the entire United Kingdom to extraordinary war efforts during the world war II.

On the other hand, if the political leaders become selfish and follow questionable morals and unethical standards, the society collapses and the nation degenerates rapidly. The dishonest leaders, who have no scruples, ethics and morals, try to make fortunes by foul means. Since the masses always emulate their leaders, people think that the way to succeed in life is through dishonesty, chicanery and selfishness. If leaders do not perform their duty selflessly, ordinary persons will not also see any real virtue in performing their duties honestly.

There is, of course, no universal standard for duties. They differ from time to time and from society to society. However, in every society, at every point in time, whatever, the man of wisdom does, by precept and practice, becomes the standard for the common man.

Standards for duty may change from time to time and from society to society, but the concept of duty does not. It is universal and everlasting. Duty has no rewards. If there is a reward, it is not a duty.

The next thought is about “Bhagavad Gita says that performing your duty is your Dharma”

Thought 159: How you allow a crisis to build

2011-01-03T16:18:00.001-05:00

When you become alive to events only after they have taken place, you are running your life - you are not managing it. You have lost control. You cannot prevent events happening, when you come to know them only after they have taken place. It is said that some people make things happen, some others watch things happening and the rest ask, "what happened?"

It is known as common sense when you think and act. If you have common sense you do not have to bite your nails every moment of your life. When you think, you begin to own your mistakes, learn from them - and that is the beginning of managing your life on proper lines. Unfortunately, common sense is the most uncommon thing in many human lives.

People allow a problem to build progressively to a level, when they get frightened by the immensity of the problem - and they become stunned into inaction. Thus, you allow a crisis to build up and then, feel overwhelmed by it. Human endeavor seems constantly involved in either committing a mistake or correcting a mistake. This is because people are either scared to think or they are plain lazy.

The next thought is “Performing one’s duty is very important”

Thought 158: Saying without thinking

2010-12-28T17:07:00.002-05:00

To "Say and then think" is even worse than to "act and then think". They say that “We are the masters of our unsaid words and slaves of those we let slip through".

Every one, no matter how old, commits mistakes. A child or a young person is perhaps more prone to commit mistakes than a mature person. When children commit mistakes, for instance, we lose our temper and yell at them. We heap the blame on them and call for explanation, causing a lot of harm to their psyche. In our anger, we may say many things to them without thinking and then, we feel sorry later.

Whenever we say something to the children and they get hurt – what has produced the hurt? It is the words - and the thoughts behind the words. How powerful these words are! And we use this power without thinking. Instead, if we were to say, "OK, child, whatever has been done, is done. You, like anyone else, cannot undo what has been done. There is no point in worrying over it now - there is nothing you can do after the event. Let us see what we can learn from this mistake", the child would not feel hurt at all; on the other hand, he may in all probability, overcome this habit though self-effort itself.

The next thought is about “How you allow a crisis to build”

Thought 157: Acting without thinking

2010-12-25T18:13:00.003-05:00

There are some people who have a habit of acting without thinking – because they are not alert most of the time. They are creatures of habit. The compulsive eaters come under this category; they eat ice creams, for instance, without thinking - even when they have severe cold. They eat a lot of food by habit whether they are hungry or not – and become obese. There are also the compulsive drinkers – who keep drinking every day whether they need a drink or not; these persons keep drinking every day until they get drunk. After some time, drinking becomes a habit with them – and eventually, they become alcoholics and destroy themselves.

There are many persons who act without thinking and regret immediately. I know an old gentleman who hit a child on the head just because the ball with which the child was playing hit his car which was parked nearby. When the parents of the child came to protest, he regretted and apologized profusely. Children do these things and when such things happen, the elders should not act impulsively without thinking. There are many people who act impulsively and commit crimes, even heinous crimes – without thinking. If only they pause for a while (and count say, from 1 to 10), many of them would refrain from committing those heinous crimes.

In the Telugu language, there is an expression called, “Pulliah Vemvaram”. Once upon a time, in a small village in the Andhra Pradesh, a land lord told his servant Pulliah, “Heh, Pulliah, tomorrow morning, you will have to go to Vemvaram (another small village a few miles away)”. The next morning, the land Lord was looking for Pulliah but he was no where to be seen. After some time, Pulliah makes an appearance and informs the land lord with beaming countenance, which was also oozing delight and satisfaction for a job well executed, “Sir, I went to Vemvaram early in the morning and came back”. The land lord was aghast. He said, “Why did you go to Vemvaram and what did you do there?” Pulliah answered innocently, “I do not know all that. Last night you told me to go to Vemvaram and early in the morning, I went there as instructed by you - and came back!” These are the people who do things mechanically.

The persons, who act mechanically without thinking, do so because their father or mother did act in this manner under similar circumstances – and they think it is the right thing to do even now. They refuse to think for themselves. I know a gentleman who got his daughter married (a few years ago) when she was just 14 years – because his father did exactly the same thing for his sister when she was 14. If only he gave a thought to this – he would have realized that what his father did to his sister may have been alright perhaps in those days – but it certainly is not alright in these modern times. Thus, the tendency to act without thinking is a habit, which runs in some families. These people believe in tradition – tradition takes precedence always in their lives over intelligent and thoughtful living.

If a young person has a habit of acting mechanically without thinking, he needs guidance to overcome this habit. He will overcome this habit, only if you were to sit with him and help him overcome the habit. This is positive thinking and you will be seeding a wholesome, new, positive approach and attitude in the youngster, when you guide him properly and positively in this manner.

When you act or decide mechanically without thinking, things will go wrong - most of the time. When they go wrong, you worry – then, worry becomes your main preoccupation. When you are not worrying, your mind is either napping or snoozing. Life's important things always catch us napping, because we are not alert.

Further, if a person commits a mistake now, the consequences of this mistake will catch up with him only some time in future. By not correcting this habit of acting first and then thinking later, you are not only making your present unhappy, but you are committing your future also to unhappiness.

The next thought is about “Saying without thinking”

Thought 156: Dealing with difficult people

2010-12-21T20:03:00.002-05:00

This world is made of all kinds of people. There are friendly persons; there are hostile persons too. The hostile persons do not conform exactly to your standards of good behavior. They may not share your values also. Many of them may probably cause a lot of annoyance to you by their crude and insensitive behavior; may irritate you frequently; may constantly work to cross purposes; may be a little too loud to your liking; may even look incapable to you but succeed nevertheless. You find very often that you have to get on amicably with some or all of these types of persons - and this sets up stresses for you.

Many of these difficult people are belligerent for no reason. They try to bite you when you go near them – like wild animals. They are negative people. They are highly egoistic. They are arrogant – and think that they alone are right all the time. They look down and try to trample on you for no reason. Every body meets one or two of this type in their life time.

Actually the difficult people are very unhappy people. They carry some hurt inside – and when they do not know how to deal with this hurt, they turn belligerent. Most of the time, such persons are in a state of bewilderment; because of which, they deal with life in a state of confusion. When you are bewildered, you tend to take unnecessary positions and try to defend them, even if those positions are silly. And they never bother to correct themselves; they also do not endeavor to control their bellicose habits, which have entrenched themselves in their minds.

It is not easy to deal with difficult people. There are no tried and proven rules. This is a typical "dirty" problem. You have to deal with each difficult person on a trial and error basis.

The next thought is about “Acting without thinking”

Thought 155: On criticizing others

2010-12-19T06:47:00.002-05:00

Some people are in the habit of criticizing others - even for trifling mistakes. Criticizing with a view to finding fault is not good; it hurts the self-esteem of the other person. When a person is hurt, he never learns; he only gets into the defensive mode. Pointing out mistakes with the intention of making the person to improve himself is OK, provided of course, the other person perceives it as such, positively. However, if he views it negatively, it would only result in eroding his self-esteem. It is very important for parents to note – when they are dealing especially with their teenage children.

Most people who are in the habit of criticizing even for small errors, never think of complimenting a person, even for jobs well done. If you do not compliment excellence, you should not comment on shoddiness also.

Never let go an opportunity to complement people for their accomplishments, however, trifling they are. There is nothing like a bit of applause to raise one's self esteem.

The next thought is about "Dealing with difficult people".

Thought 154: Leaders vs Managers (Continued)

2010-12-15T03:38:00.002-05:00

A leader is not afraid of "change". He is supremely confident that he can manage any situation - because, he can innovate and improvise.

A leader is open-minded and can learn from any source. He has very few mental roadblocks. He loves whatever he does and likes the people with whom he works. “Instead of barking orders and pushing people around, a leader finds it more effective to steer people quietly but firmly”.

The Leader makes people participate intimately in the problems of the work place and this is how he succeeds to get superior performance and motivation from those who work with him. He is always with his people - always accessible. He loves to be in the trenches along with his "soldiers".

The next thought is about “On criticizing others”

Thought 154: Leaders vs Managers (Continued)

2010-12-11T08:36:00.001-05:00

People follow someone only when he has something that they admire. A leader has followers – his followers admire something that he has. The manager does not have followers. The followers have faith in their leader – and faith means to believe implicitly. The followers follow the leader, not because, the latter asked or forced them to follow, but because, the leader inspired them in some inexplicable way. It is more an emotional affair between them.

The most important reason why people follow leaders, however, is that they perceive the leader to be committed to their interests and welfare. They see him giving priority for their welfare; it is always uppermost in his mind. His own interests take a back seat – in comparison to the interests of his followers.

A leader is one who has vision. “I had a dream”, proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr, who lead the movement for the emancipation of the blacks from the white supremacy in the USA. The leader has a charisma, by virtue of which, he inspires “ordinary persons to perform extraordinary tasks”. To get them to do this, he innovates and improvises, as needed. He can take risks and therefore, generally, sets his sights on big victories as opposed to small gains. A leader aims at, not only efficiency but, more importantly, aims at effectiveness. He can sacrifice efficiency, if effectiveness has to be achieved at the cost of efficiency. According to the well-known management expert, Peter Drucker, efficiency is to do a thing right, while effectiveness is to do the right thing.

A leader controls, more through trust, than by rules. He operates on the fundamental law – “you have to put in the bank first, before you can cash a check”. He relies more on the human side of the organization and less on rules and regulations. He organizes all collective activities through teams, rather than through committees. He motivates the teams to deal with visions and imaginative solutions, unlike the committees, which operate on the basis of an agenda.

The next thought is also about “Leaders vs Managers (Continued)”

Thought 154: Leaders vs Managers

2010-12-07T19:15:00.001-05:00

A manager ensures that the system works in the manner it is expected to work. He is the custodian of the rules and regulations in an organization and it is his job to enforce them. A manager is concerned with efficiency.

While the manager is concerned with efficiency, the leader is concerned with efficiency as well as effectiveness. If “efficiency is doing a thing right, effectiveness is doing the right thing”, says Peter Drucker, the management Guru.

A leader is one who has vision. He has charisma, by virtue of which, he inspires “ordinary persons to perform extraordinarily”. People follow someone only when - he has something that they admire. A leader has followers. The manager does not have followers of that type - generally.

A Manager mostly says “yes” to get cooperation from subordinates – and he is usually afraid to say “no”, for fear of non-cooperation. The leader can say “no” and still get cheerful and enthusiastic cooperation. The followers would willingly do anything that their leader tells them to do - they do not need any extra patting on the back to do so. They like him; they trust him. He is their role-model.

The next thought is about “Leaders vs Managers (Continued)”

Thought 153: Expectations in life

2010-12-05T00:55:00.001-05:00

Everyone has some expectations in life. Maslow said that there is a hierarchy in these expectations – that is, unless the lower level expectations are satisfied properly, man is not interested in the higher levels.

The first level of expectation is food, thirst, sex. This is the basic level of expectations. If this is not satisfied, the higher expectations do not appeal to any person. If a beggar (homeless person), who is not sure of his next meal, is offered the honorary position of president of a society, he will not be interested at all. He will say, “Give me some food instead of this honorary position”. Once the basic level is satisfied, the person wants to ensure that he has this food etc every day – that is, he looks for security, which is the next higher level. If the security is also satisfied, then and only then, does he crave for the next level – which is recognition in the society. When this is also satisfied, he wants self-actualisation or fulfilment. Thus, the higher level of expectation becomes important or relevant to him only when the lower levels are all satisfied.

The next thought is about “Leaders vs Managers”

Thought 152: Living in the present

2010-11-27T14:46:00.000-05:00

There is more to life than spending all your time worrying about the future or feeling guilty over the past. You must enjoy friendships, relationships, your work, your hobbies, the bliss of marriage and children, physical exercise or work out, entertainment, vacation, nature, gardening, reading and a host of other things that make life colorful, fulfilled and exciting. You can experience all these wonderful things provided you stop living in the past and also in the future - and start living in the present.

The truth is that in life, you can look into the last page, but not into the next page. Tomorrow is unknown - and anything unknown is fraught with fear. Tomorrow is like a post-dated check - which can not be cashed now.

And it is most unproductive, and even counter-productive, to ruminate over yesterday. Any amount of pondering over it, cannot bring it back for you - you cannot undo what has already been done

Tomorrow never happens. Today is what matters. Today is like the cash in hand - to be enjoyed. Plan for tomorrow, but live in the present.

The next thought is about “Expectations in life”

Thought 151: You can never be right all the time

2010-11-23T20:36:00.002-05:00

There are some persons who think that they can never go wrong; they strongly believe that they are right 100% of the time. These are the highly egocentric persons of this world. They feel that they know everything; and what is worse is that they think others do not know anything! In any conversation, they have a compulsion to dominate and they do dominate with an attitude; and this attitude seems to verbalize, “I have the answer – what is the question?”

It is important to realize that one can never be right 100% of the time. If your judgment is good, you can be right a large part of the time. This implies that you can be wrong the remaining time. This is the best - the best of us can achieve. The rest of us achieve much less. Unfortunately, there are some who think that they are always right - the superman syndrome. The superman never existed except in fiction and will never exist outside the fiction. Human beings are quite fallible. If you attempt 100 things, I think that it is a remarkable fete, if you succeed in 50 to 60 of them. The average man may succeed in 30 of them, if he is a thinking person. No one should ever worry that he has not succeeded in all the 100 things attempted. It is simply not possible. It is said that every failure supports the ultimate success, if you have faith in yourself and in God.

The next thought is about “Living in the present”

Thought 150: The crystal ball will not work

2010-11-20T05:06:00.003-05:00

If you can lean over the "present" and can try to peak into the "future", you will never make a mistake. In life, however, there is no way to look into the "next page" – not even into the next moment. In the real world, the crystal ball does not work.

There is always a measure of uncertainty in anything that you wish to accomplish. One of the ironies of life is that you must assume that you know the future and act. Inaction in the face of uncertainty is no virtue. It is the action in the face of uncertainty that is needed. A manager is trained to take decisions against the backdrop of uncertainty. He does not like to gamble - but he is willing to take calculated risks. The office clerk will not take such calculated risks. He can only act, if he is certain that he will not be blamed, should something go wrong. This is a typical bureaucratic tradition of ensuring safety. The "Yes Minister" is always safe. The manager is willing to take the blame.

The next thought is about “You can never be right all the time”

Thought 149: What is decency

2010-11-16T22:33:00.001-05:00

Keeping your promises even if others do not, is decency. Keeping secrets even if others do not, is decency. Not forgetting to return what you borrowed, even if others do forget, is decency. Not rejecting old and tried friendships while making more interesting friendships, is decency. Never wishing to others what you do not like to happen to you, is decency. To be nice and helpful to neighbors, even if they are not, is decency. Having sympathy for those who are not so fortunate as you are in terms of money, education and other accomplishments, is decency. To love animals and birds, which are so helpless to defend themselves against the cruelty and selfishness of human beings, is decency. Not causing pollution is decency. Constantly advocating against pollution is also decency. Looking after your old parents is decency. Doing the right thing (what they like and also what is good for them) for your wife and children, is decency. Never letting down your friends and well wishers, is decency. Giving your very best for the employer, who pays your monthly pay check, is decency. Can you add to this list? Can you try to abide by these rules? If you try to do that, you are a decent person.

The next thought is about “The crystal ball will not work”

THought 148: Seeking Approval

2010-11-13T10:05:00.001-05:00

There is nothing wrong in enjoying a little compliment, an affectionate pat on the back and a little bit of applause from time to time, says Dr Wayne Dyer. You do want to be thought of well by your bosses, spouses, children, neighbors, colleagues, friends, peers and relatives. You feel good and you like to do things, which please them. But, when seeking approval of persons constantly becomes a compulsion, it sets up a stress for you. You are always anxious to please them and feel worried that you may not have done enough in this regard. At times, you may feel concerned with disapproval. This sets up more stress for you.

Every one has an agenda of his own – and they want you to do things or behave in a way to promote their agenda; they are not at all interested in your agenda. If you do not do what they want you to do, they show their disapproval – which is designed in a subtle manner to make you feel uncomfortable or upset.

When you try to please others habitually, you are being controlled by them. By withholding approval, they have the power to modify your behavior. You have given them this power. If seeking approval becomes a habit, you lose your self-confidence and self-esteem. You can gain your power back only when you start doing things to please your self and not others. You can get rid of your stress when “what others think of you” becomes a thing of no consequence and what you think of yourself becomes important.

The sooner you realize that you can never please every one, no matter what you do and that you can never get rid of their disapproval, the better for you.

The next thought is about “What is decency”

Thought 147: Why people behave the way they do?

2010-11-09T17:28:00.000-05:00

Sometimes people behave in a way that upsets you. Many persons have behaved badly towards me - apparently for no reason. Previously, I used to get upset when they tried to upset me! Now, I have learnt to ignore this person. I am satisfied that it is his nature to behave this way. I cannot change his nature. He alone can change his nature.

People do take an instant dislike or like to persons. Each person behaves according to the nature and quality of his mind. If this is understood, this kind of problem gets greatly minimized.

Swami Dayananda says that the animals are above reproach in this respect. They do not understand what is a rational behavior and therefore, they do not know how to behave irrationally. You do not find fault with a mosquito, for instance, for biting you? What all you do is to get rid of it or find a cure for its bite, but you do not entertain any animosity against it. You know it bites because it does not know anything better; it does not know that it should not bite you!

Similarly, people also behave helplessly as dictated by their in-born tendencies, called, Samskaras (Vaasanas). If you had the same past, you would have done the same thing too. If you understand this, you are a mature person.

Thought 146: We constantly judge people

2010-11-06T23:21:00.002-04:00

Whether we like it or not, all of us are constantly judging people. The more mature we are, the more objective this judgment is going to be. For instance, during my service, I was a member of the departmental promotion committee of a Technical Organization. I was always surprised and even shocked, sometimes, how a few members in this committee, judged the candidates for promotion based on their face, complexion and other irrelevant features – and not based on their professional knowledge and skills.

It is smart to keep your likes and dislikes on hold while judging people. Such persons are mature and their judgment will be found correct more often than not. They have well honed judging skills, which got developed over a period of time. They can smartly docket a person in no time at all.

Many people talk highly of themselves; they usually over-estimate themselves and their brood. There may be any number of reasons for this but we are not concerned with those reasons. How much of what they say should we believe? There is a need for judgment here again – because this is crucial.

I want to strike a note of caution here. People may over-estimate themselves - but do not under-estimate them, because they overestimate themselves.

Greed, untrustworthiness, negative attitudes and similar traits show out very easily in people – they stick out a mile. You do not need much maturity to detect them. It is only when these traits are smartly camouflaged that you really need all the judging skills that you can muster, supplemented by your sixth sense. Whenever there is a doubt, it is good to go by what your sixth sense says.

Keep a distance from people whom you judge as greedy, untrustworthy and prone to thinking negatively.

The next thought is about “Why people behave the way they do?”

Thought 145: About Friends and Enemies

2010-11-03T21:47:00.000-04:00

Everyone has friends - and enemies; everyone has persons, whom he labels as “good” and “bad”. Labels are, of course, purely subjective.

Every one has 'good' and 'bad' in him. Everyone has an agenda of his own - which makes him a friend to some and an enemy to others. You should consider him good or bad to you, not because some one says so, but because you find him so.

Every one has likes and dislikes. Every one has ‘good’ and ‘bad’ in him. Everyone has an agenda of his own – which makes him a friend to some and an enemy to others. You should consider him good or bad to you, not because some one says so, but because you find him so.

Most people do not really know who their well wishers are. Some persons are naïve – they accept every one who flatters them as friends. An enemy evidently appears as an enemy but a friend, who is really an enemy, cannot be seen in his true colours so easily. Remember, a friend is your well wisher; he comes to your help without expecting any return. Those who are not your well wishers (friends) in this sense, are your acquaintances. In this world, every one has his/her own agenda. Every one is primarily interested in himself/herself, although they may profess or pretend that they are more interested in promoting your interests like a friend. The intelligent person would be able to see through this pretense – and come to know the real nature of the so called friend.

I always advise my children to keenly observe the behaviour of their so called friends – classify them properly into friends and acquaintances. A friend is one who helps without expecting a return. An acquaintance is one who does business deals – “if I do this for you, what will you do for me?” One should have a small circle of close (real) friends and a large circle of acquaintances.

The next thought is about “We constantly judge people”

Thought 144: It is good to focus on work but not on its result (Continued)

2010-10-30T14:22:00.001-04:00

Understand that the fact that you have no control over the fruits of your action, however, should not make you frustrated and stop all action; one should not renounce action out of frustration or fear. When you are afraid of something and you run away from it, then you have yielded to the immensity of the problem. When you run away from anything out of fear, it means, that you still have likes and dislikes (Raaga-Dveshas). When you have likes and dislikes still in your mind, you cannot give up action; they would always drive you to act - and you are helpless here.

When you give up action for any reason (for example, out of fear), it becomes dereliction of duty. You just do not like a particular action – and you want to escape from it. This is what the Bhagavaan refers here as inaction. Attachment to inaction is neither possible nor good. How can you live in this world without performing some action? Action is inescapable. However, neglecting to do what you have to do is not good – from both secular point of view as well as the spiritual point of view.

Vedaanta says – you must work but give up the notion that you are working to fulfill your desires; you are only working to please the god because He wants every one to play his roles in this world considering them as his sacred duties. Vedaanta also says give up your ego; and also give up the notion that you are working for gaining something. This is what an artist does; while painting the picture, he is not aware that he is doing it; he simply loves his work and keeps on working on that basis. Such a work gets success and recognition. Action thus, is a spiritual practice, fundamentally.

The next thought is “About Friends and Enemies”

Thought 144: It is good to focus on work but not on its result (Continued)

2010-10-26T23:02:00.002-04:00

Bhagavaan Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita (2.47), “Karmanye Vaadhi-kaaraste Maa Phaleshu Kadaachana Maa Karma Phala-heturbhur Maate Sango-stva Karmani =You have a choice in action, but never in its results (Maa Kadaachana). The result is determined by me”.

This Sloka (Verse) is not advocating that one should perform every action without expecting a result. No one performs any action without expecting a result. When one undertakes to do something, he expects a result, even though he knows that he has no control over the result. This expectation of a result, which is quite natural, is not a problem. The problem comes only when you get attached to the result.

The word “Adhikaara” (used in this Sloka) actually means the right - the right to choose a particular option, out of several options available to you for performing Karma (action). You have freedom to decide what work you want to do and how you propose to do it - this is your right. You are not, unfortunately, in a position to choose the result that you want; you are helpless with reference to the result. The result is decided in accordance with the law of cause and effect. This law was not authored by any one here. It is Isvara’s (God’s) law. He alone decides the result of every action in the world.

All Karmas are undertaken to produce the desired results. Since you perform a particular Karma to produce a specific result, it appears that you have figured out, which Karma would produce which result. If you are a thinking person, you would very soon find out that what you figured out, is not really as predictable as you thought it is. What you want is one thing and what you get is not exactly what you wanted. Frequently, it is quite the opposite. And you are helpless about this.

Your power and knowledge are limited. That is your status as a Jeeva. You do have a choice, but only over the action. You have none over the result. You perform the Karma and the result is taken care of. If you had power over the result, then, every one of your Karmas would have been successful. But because you are not omniscient, you do not know that a particular Karma would produce a given result. What the result is would depend on so many unknown factors. Since you do not have choice over the result, you should recognize this limitation. This is the limitation in knowledge and power. All human beings have the same kind of limitation.
The next thought is also about “It is good to focus on work but not on its result (Continued)”

Thought 143: It is good to focus on work but not on its result

2010-10-24T09:40:00.001-04:00

You have to work – always. The Japanese work hard and are prosperous. If you do not work, you cannot even maintain your body. The body needs to be exercised to be in good shape and health. You should not only work, but you should also glorify your work. Those who work intelligently alone are going to prosper. There is no short cut to success except through hard and intelligent work. Work alone makes you great. Remember, it is as easy to be great as it is to be small.

In this materialistic world, we are taught, right from childhood, that one should have ambitions in life and pursue them with a single-minded perseverance. In the present day society, selfish action is admired and selfless action is pitied. We never do anything, if it does not profit us in some way. Every thing that we do must advance some worldly objective or the other for us. Disinterested action is generally considered wasteful. This is what all the management books proclaim. This is what the success-oriented western society preaches and practices. We want results - and we constantly work for their achievement.

When we constantly focus on the outcome or the lack of it, we get worked up over it. When the mind is worked up over the outcome of a task even before the task begins, it cannot concentrate on the task properly. The worry and anxiety invested in the present moments, transforms into fear of the future.

Tomorrow is only a continuation of today, just as today is a continuation of yesterday. What we invest in the present will decide how prosperous we are going to be in the future. An action today defines the fruit of this action tomorrow. When we waste the precious present moments in imaginary fears for tomorrow, we do not invest in the present moments efficiently.

On the other hand, if you focus your entire store of energy in the present moments and concentrate exclusively on what you do, you give an inspired input. Excellence in input ensures excellence in output. A single-minded devotion to work will always end up in a brilliant success - besides giving job satisfaction. If it is success that you want, then, do not strive with a mind ridden with anxiety and fear for the outcome. Even in this materialistic world, focusing on the input exclusively, with no thought of the output (as stipulated in Karma-Yoga) is very essential for success.
The next thought is about “It is good to focus on work but not on its result (Continued)

Thought 142: Time is our most important resource

2010-10-21T21:16:00.001-04:00

In Engineering management, they tell you that money, materials, men and machines - the 4 M's - are supposed to be the only resources for man. To this list, I add "Time" also. Of these five, I would consider "time" as the most valuable.

Time cannot be compressed; neither can it be expanded. No one can tamper with time; you can manipulate everything else in this creation but you can’t manipulate time. Have you ever thought “what is this time”, which is so clearly beyond the capabilities of human beings to manipulate? Who created “Time”? In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna Paramaatnma says that no one created time – because He is the “Time” (Kaala) itself. Who created the Paramatma? Who can manipulate the Paramaatma?

Coming back to more mundane view of time, anything non-renewable is more valuable, compared to that, which is renewable. The non-renewable substances are always in a limited supply. Take for instance, energy from gas (petrol). It is non-renewable energy - its availability is limited. Whereas the solar energy is renewable. An unlimited amount of it is available to you. We can afford to waste a little bit of the solar energy or use it liberally, because it is a renewable energy - and an unlimited supply of which is available to us. But the supply of gas is limited - it is expected to last a couple of decades more, at the current rate of usage. Therefore, we have to be extremely careful in its usage.

Time is irreversible – which means that what is gone is gone for ever, irretrievably; a minute wasted is gone forever. Money wasted can be replaced when necessary. Machines and Man power also can be replaced when necessary. But how can you replace the minutes that have gone by? For the manager, therefore, time is the most valuable resource; it is totally non-renewable. Good managers are conscious of this fact - and use time very efficiently.

The next thought is about “It is good to focus on work but not on its result”

Thought 141: You are a conscious being in your body but you are not your body

2010-10-16T21:58:00.001-04:00

Every one comes into this world for a temporary sojourn, seeking happiness. While we look for happiness, we end up invariably experiencing sorrow for the most part. That is the nature of life on this planet. Nevertheless, we never seem to learn from experience - we still look, with great expectations, for happiness that is not there. When the visa expires, we exit and reappear later (in the next incarnation), with another temporary visa, looking again for happiness as before. This cycle goes on and on, like this, until one realizes his folly and strives to gain freedom from birth, which is called “Moksha” in Hindu philosophy (Vedaanta). Vedaanta is derived from Vedas, which are the ageless Hindu books of knowledge – which are still considered relevant.

Human birth is a rare opportunity. Of all the lord's creatures, the human being alone is endowed with intellect (Buddhi). Intellect helps you gain wisdom – discriminating knowledge. Wisdom tells you that your goal should be Moksha. Moksha leads to eternal peace and happiness.

The body-mind complex is inert – and you are a conscious being in your body-mind complex. This conscious being is called the Aatma, which is Awareness. Moksha is to know that you are the Aatma, which is the Awareness - and that you are not the body-mind complex.

Time and death are irreversible and their inevitability causes fear. There is no death to the conscious being inside the body-mind complex. Body alone dies because it is born. Everything born must die one day or the other. There is neither birth nor death to the conscious being in the body – because he is not born. He lives on and on, forever, timelessly.

The next thought is about “Time is our most important resource”

Thought 140: The Vision of the Vedas

2010-10-14T19:52:00.001-04:00

The vision of the Vedas is that you are the Aatma, which is Brahman. This is a profound knowledge. It is like no other knowledge. It is the mother of all knowledge. One needs a certain maturity to be able to understand and make use of this knowledge. When people have no interest in becoming mature, this knowledge does not produce the results that it produces in those, who are interested in becoming mature.

Man is born totally ignorant of who he is. He is the Aatma, but being under the influence of Maayaa, he does not realize this truth. He thinks that he is his body-mind complex. When Man thinks that he is his body-mind complex, he is known a Jeeva. When he realises that he is the Aatma and not the body-mind complex, he attains Moksha. Moksha is not a place like Vaikuntha or Kailaasa. It is Jnaanam (Knowledge of the self). When man attains Moksha, he gains liberation from Karma and Janma.

Until the Moksha is attained, Vedas say that the Jeeva keeps on returning to Samsaara (the world) through rebirth – any number of times.

The next thought is about “You are a conscious being in your body but you are not your body”

Thought 139: About Upanishads

2010-10-10T10:49:00.001-04:00

Vedas tell us that Nirguna Brahman or the Paramaatma, is the Ultimate Truth – which is the Awareness pervading every nook and cranny of the entire universe. The knowledge of the Ultimate Truth is also known as the knowledge of the self. It is the knowledge about you, who is the Aatma. The fundamental questions of life such as “Who is the God, “Who am I?”, “What is my goal in life”, etc, are all answered in the Vedas. This portion of the Vedas is called Jnaana Kaanda; Jnaana Kaanda is also called the Upanishad or Vedaanta.

Upanishads focus on spiritual and philosophical teachings; they discuss Brahman, the universe and the beings of the universe and their interrelationships. Upanishads constitute the core of Hindu philosophy called “Vedaanta”(the end portion of the Vedas).

It is believed that 1108 Upanishads existed originally. They have been able to identify only 108 of them. Of these 108 also, Chandogyopanishad, Mundukopanishad, Aittereyopanishad, Manduukyopanishad, Taittiriyopanishad, Kenopanishad, Kathopanishad, Isaavaasyopanishad, Prasnopanishad, Brihadaaranyakopanishad, Svetaasvataropanishad, Jaabaalopanishad, Muktikopanishad, Kaivalyopanishad, Mahaa-Naaraayanopanishad, are only now available in English script for study by the modern man.

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Thought 138: More about the Vedas

2010-10-05T13:00:00.000-04:00

The Sanskrit word “Veda” means "knowledge". Veda is derived from the root “Vid”, which means "to know". Vedas are the discoveries of the laws of nature, the laws governing the universe and also the laws about the beings living in it - and also about the Ultimate Truth (Paramaatma). The Veda Mantras are recited at Hindu prayers, religious functions and other auspicious occasions.

Hindus revere the Vedas as eternal truths - revealed to the ancient sages. They are the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism. Vedas are the main source of knowledge for the Hindus. All Hindu spiritual knowledge and also knowledge about Hindu gods and goddesses is derived from the Vedas. Vedas are not books composed by men in any period of history. Rather, they were revealed as the eternal truths to the ancient Rishis during their meditations. This is the reason why Vedas are called “Apaurusheya Grantha” meaning “not of human composition”; that is, they are authorless works. Later, Sage Veda Vyaasa compiled and codified them into four Vedas.

The four Vedas are Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Saama Veda and Atharvana Veda. Of these, the first three are also called “Trayee", meaning "the triple sacred sciences" of - reciting hymns (Rig Veda), performing sacrifices (Yajur Veda) and chanting (Saama Veda).

The Rig Veda Mantras, which are verses of praise set in a metre, are intended for loud recitation. Yajur Veda Mantras are in prose and intended for recitation in a lower tone at sacrifices. Saama Veda Mantras, which are set in a lyrical metre, are intended for chanting at the Soma ceremonies.

The fourth Veda, Atharvana Veda, was added to the “Trayee” subsequently. The Atharvana Veda like the Rigveda, is a collection of hymns mixed with incantations. By a mere recitation of those Mantras, it is supposed to bring about long life, cures for diseases, the destruction of enemies, etc.

Each Veda is divided into four parts – namely, Samhita, Braahmana, Aranyakaa and Upanishads. Samhitaas are hymns containing sacred Mantras. The other three parts, which are Braahmans, Aranyakas (wilderness texts) and Upanishads are usually in prose. The first two parts are called the Karma Kaandaa (ritualistic portion), while the last two form the Jnaana Kaandaa (knowledge portion).

Vedas (Karma Kaanda) discuss Dharma comprising the laws governing the individual (Jeeva), the world (Jagat) and the Creator (Isvara) and their inter-relationship. The laws of Karma by which man can lead a successful life in this world are also discussed in detail in this portion of the Vedas. If you desire a particular result, the Karma Kaanda recommends the performance of certain rituals, which get you that very result. Karma Kaanda also tells you what you should do and what you should not do. It also tells you the consequences of violating the do’s and don’ts enjoined in it.

The next thought is “About Upanishads”

Thought 137: What are Srutis and Smritis

2010-10-02T16:16:00.003-04:00

The ancient Rishis develped, over the millenia, a vast body of religious scriptures (Saastras) for Hinduism. This literature principally consists of Srutis and Smritis. Sruti is what is directly experienced by the Vedic seers during their contemplation or meditation; they represent the spiritual experiences of these Vedic seers.

In general, Srutis and Smritis represent the whole body of Hindu religious and spiritual knowledge and wisdom, which the Paramaatma wanted to pass on to the world through the ancient sages. All knowledge about Dharma originated from these Srutis and Smritis.

Vedas are Srutis. They are the foremost in authority, importance and antiquity. The Bhagavad Gita, which is a part of the Mahaabhaarataa, is sometimes called a summary of the spiritual teachings of the Vedas.

Smritis refer to what is remembered from the teachings of the ancient seers describing their spiritual experiences. Aagamas, Itihaasas and Puraanas are Smritis. Aagamas describe the rules for rituals, rites and worship of gods. There are five of them; for the worship of Ganesa, for the worship of Sakti, for the worship of Suurya, for the worship of Siva and for the worship of Vishnu. Itihaasas are epics – which are mythological stories, such as Raamaayana and Mahaabhaarata. Puraanas are moral stories. There are 18 Puraanas. Each Puraana upholds a moral value.

These scriptures (Srutis and Smritis) expound on theology, philosophy and mythology, providing spiritual insights and guidance on the practice of Dharma. Dharma means living a religious life performing all duties and other religious stipulations prescribed for a person in the Saastras. Sanaatna Dharma means Eternal Dharma; it is ever lasting Dharma. It also means universal religion.

The next thought is “More about the Vedas”

Thought 136: The Guru-Sishya Parampara

2010-09-28T18:59:00.001-04:00

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

2010-09-25T20:07:00.001-04:00

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

2010-09-21T19:29:00.001-04:00

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

2010-09-18T18:25:00.002-04:00

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.

The next thought is about “What is Hinduism”

Thought 132: Prayer is an excellent method of relieving stress

2010-09-14T17:27:00.001-04:00

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.

The next thought is about “Transcendental Meditation”

Thought 131: The Bananas

2010-09-11T08:19:00.004-04:00

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.

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Thought 131: The Bananas

2010-09-11T08:19:00.002-04:00

Thought 131: The Bananas

2010-09-11T08:19:00.001-04:00

Thought 131: The Bananas

2010-09-11T08:19:00.000-04:00

Thought 130: Stress has become unavoidable

2010-09-07T20:52:00.001-04:00

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

2010-09-04T19:04:00.001-04:00

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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Tought 128: Innovation through Technology

2010-08-31T18:02:00.002-04:00

Technology has been changing constantly; these days, it is changing faster than ever before. “If it can be done, it is obsolete” - this is how technology is leaping forward. If you do not update yourself, you become obsolete.

The world too has been changing constantly. Every system changes constantly. According to the laws of thermodynamics, every system deteriorates, if left to itself without intervention. This deterioration from order to disorder is called Entropy.

The experienced manager knows that every system has entropy. But he cannot be at all places, all at the same time, to find out about it. However, the efficient manager has a helicopter view of his system of operations all the time – and when necessary, he zooms to the trouble spots to intervene as needed. When something goes wrong, the good manager does not immediately ask "who did it?" Rather, he asks, "What went wrong" and fixes it as soon as possible, whatever went wrong.

These are challenging times everywhere – especially in India. Challenging times require challenging attitudes. Those who develop these attitudes, survive - and even prosper. Those who cannot muster enough innovative thinking and courage, who let themselves be overwhelmed by circumstances and meekly submit to them, find alibis instead of solutions to their problems.

Technology finds innovative solutions to every challenge. That is what technology is all about. That is how the Silicon Valley thrives and prospers. The spirited young people of the valley convert every challenge into money, through innovative solutions. These converters are not big operators – they are “lean, mean and nimble”. They are not afraid to step out of the beaten track - and explore the unfamiliar turf.

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Thought 127: There is an immense mass of information being thrown at you now

2010-08-28T18:38:00.001-04:00

My parents did not have so much information thrown at them - as is being done by the media these days. Their information needs were also meager. What all they needed to know to live comfortably was the nearest school for their children, the nearest doctor and the nearest grocery store. A few other services were delivered at home. Life was very simple in those days.

But the times have changed. Life is becoming increasingly more and more complex every day. One income is not sufficient any more for comfortable living. Two income families have come to stay. Time has become extremely important for both husband and wife. This has brought in its wake many changes in life styles.

The need for information also changed with the times. We are seeing, with a monotonous regularity, rapid technological changes, cycles of boom and recession, rising and falling inflation rates - all of them and many more such parameters, having a direct impact on our day to day living.

This is the modern Hitech and IT age - and you are literally battered with information. It is believed that information is growing in geometric proportion. We do not even know how much of it is factual and to be believed - and how much of it is spin and therefore, is irrelevant to our needs. The sheer volume of it, however, is mind-boggling.

There is a large and profitable Information Technology industry growing rapidly, which is constantly churning out new information and throwing it at us. In the USA alone, there are 1400 TV stations, several hundred newspapers and magazines. Some of these newspapers have about 100 pages on week days and about 300 pages in their Sunday editions. There are several hundred cable and long distance telephone companies. To cap it all, there is, of course, the Internet. All of them are constantly trying to literally drown us in information.

We are confused most of the time; perhaps even worried that we may miss something vital. There is also a lurking suspicion in our minds that we are being deliberately conned by sharp operators. We do not know any more what to believe - and what not to believe.

Information is not knowledge. It has to be processed - if it has to become knowledge. You have to sift through the information, analyze it, establish its objectivity, classify what is relevant to your needs and store the classified information in a proper place for timely and easy retrieval for it to become useful knowledge. This processed information has also to be updated continually.

The next thought is about ‘Innovation through Technology’

Thought 126: You are the target of the media blitz

2010-08-24T18:23:00.001-04:00

Information is constantly beamed at you - by the media and also by the internet, if you are a regular surfer. The media is constantly communicating with you all the time, perhaps subliminally too. Some of the information beamed at you is designed to mislead you into decisions and actions, which may be inimical to your own interests.

Therefore, the information churned out by the media is frequently not processed properly for your use. The raw data has to be evaluated and filtered and processed for accuracy of facts, as well as, for relevance to your needs. Filtered and processed information is value-added information and therefore, can be quite costly.

It is not enough if you acquire the proper information once. It has to be updated constantly. We know now that the information gets obsolete very rapidly. This puts pressure on you. You are never sure that you are not operating on obsolete information.

If you do not have proper information with you, you will be at the mercy of those high pressure sales people, who are eager to sell you something and take away your money. There is a mad rush to get at your purse strings and separate you from your money, somehow, any old how.

The business community looks after its own interests much better than ordinary consumers. The ordinary consumers too should do the same. Self help is the best help. You become aggressive and design your own counter measures.

Consumer societies are one answer to this. We can also choose the sources of
information - the news paper, the magazine, the TV station, friends, neighbors, the school, the job, etc, from where we get information. Not easy, but we have to think on these lines.

We have to know our needs precisely and decide which sources of the information are likely to satisfy our needs properly. Our objective is to prepare ourselves for taking good decisions, because, "Your decision is only as good as the information that you have".

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Thought 125: Mind is a powerful instrument

2010-08-21T14:18:00.002-04:00

All consciousness in a person is in the mind. All knowledge in a person is also in the mind. All the good in a person is also in the mind – in the form of thoughts. All evil (impurities such as anger, hatred, arrogance, jealousy, selfishness, etc) is also in the mind - in the form of thoughts again. All sorrow too is in the mind – in the form of thoughts only. All worry too is in the mind in the form of thoughts again. All happiness also is in the mind in the form of thoughts. All likes and dislikes (Raag-Dveshas) are also in the mind. The truth is that you are sucked into these thoughts as if you were in a powerful whirlpool; try as you may, you cannot come out of it easily.

Mind plays games with us – because of impurities like the Raaga-Dveshas (likes and dislikes), selfishness, jealousy, hatred, arrogance, etc in it. An idle mind, they say, is the devil’s workshop. It sets up conflicts of all sorts – all the time. Conflicts cause turmoil in your mind and when the mind is in turmoil, you will never have peace. And without peace, you will have no happiness.

Mind is so powerful that (being presently in India) if you think that you are in a distant place like the USA, you are there instantly. This means that it can transcend space and time dimensions.

Mind is like a double-edged sword. What it sets up, it can also undo. It all depends – whether you have control over it or it has control over you. When you have control over the mind, it flows in a positive direction and you will enjoy what you experience and vice-versa.

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Thought 124: Vedaanta helps you to purify your Vaasanas

2010-08-17T18:21:00.008-04:00

Man has freedom of action. He could be positive and be beneficial to the society around him or he can also be negative and harmful and destructive to the society around him. Man can consciously exhaust his Vaasanas and rise up. He could also reinforce his Vaasanas and sink down to the depths of degradation.

Vaasanas are impurities, which obscure the divine nature in man. When you wipe out Vaasanas, you realize yourself - which is Moksha (liberation from Karma and Janma). Man minus Vaasanas is God. Vedaanta teaches you how to neutralize the effects of your Vaasanas.

Man has choice of action – unlike other living creatures. You do not expect a tiger to be kind and considerate. It must pounce and kill – and that is all what it knows. A cow on the other hand is gentle, meek and mild – and it can never be cruel like a tiger. Thus, all animals tread a beaten path. These animals fulfill their Vaasanas in the realm of activities, which indicates their nature. They lead a choice less pattern of life. Man, however, has choice of action. Through self-effort, man can change the pattern of his life; he can change his Vaasanas and even his Praarabdha. Self-effort gives you freedom regardless of the nature of the Vaasanas. (Swami Tejomayananda)

When not manifest, Vaasanas remain dormant in your potential nature. They are in that state when you are in deep sleep. During the wakeful state, they begin to manifest as thoughts in your intellect (thoughts in your intellect are always dictated by your Vaasanas). In the second stage of manifestation, they express themselves as desires in the mind. In the final stage, they (the desires) express themselves as actions.

Thus, as long as Vaasanas exist in you, thoughts, desires and actions will constantly flow out of you. The state of Vaasanlessnes is the state of thoughtlessness or the state of desirelessness or the state of actionlessness – which is called Moksha.

You cannot abstain from action while the Vaasanas are still present in you. People practice self-denial externally – not realizing that Vaasanas, thoughts and desires are still present internally, which putrefy the internal personality. Such practices lead to suppression rather than sublimation of the personality.

The next thought is about Mind is a powerful instrument

Thought 123: Vaasanas drive you helplessly to commit sin

2010-08-14T23:21:00.000-04:00

Arjuna asks the Bhagavaan Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, “Why people behave as they do – irrationally most of the time. They often commit evil actions, even when they know that it is wrong to do so. Some unknown force seems to always impel them into committing the sin in spite of themselves” (BG 6.33, 6.34). The Bhagavaan replies that Vaasanas are the reason why people helplessly behave as they do. Vaasanas are very powerful. Even the Jnaanis find that they are helplessly controlled by their Vaasanas.

Every one picks up a host of likes and dislikes as he journeys along in every life. Every mind has likes and dislikes. Every one views the world through his likes and dislikes. The world that enters a mind is the one that got distorted by the two lenses called, “likes” and “dislikes”. Thus, the world that is stored in any mind is a modified world – modified by its likes and dislikes. This is a private world of fantasy and fancy of a person – which is uniquely his own. The individual, even while viewing the objective world created by Isvara, actually interacts in terms of his own private world - and develops subjective responses. Thus, these likes and dislikes define the world that a person would like to live in. These likes and dislikes are identified with the Vaasanas of a person.

The next thought is about “Vedaanta helps you to purify your Vaasanas”

Thought 122: About Vaasanas

2010-08-10T04:30:00.002-04:00

Every individual possesses a separate and distinct nature, which expresses itself in a unique manner. This inherent tendency, this innate bent of mind, this unique aptitude, and this individualistic nature, characteristic to a person, is what we call a Samskaara (in Vedaanta). sed. Samskaaras are known as Vaasanas – when you carry them forward to the next Janma. And we do carry our Samskaaras from one Janma to the next. Like the software programs in a computer, Vaasanas remain with you no matter how many births you take – until you throw them out (erase) them.

Vaasanas, which are subtle impressions on the mind, are responsible for your unique personality; Vaasanas are the nucleus of your personality. You are the substantial form of your insubstantial Vaasanas. Vaasana literally means a fragrance. Your Vaasanas are your individual and unique fragrances.

In a Hindu temple, for instance, the idol of the deity is located in the innermost of the three enclosures (Praakaaras). The Puujaari burns camphor (which has a unique fragrance) to light up the idol, which is in darkness in the inner most enclosure. When the camphor burns shedding its fragrance, God (idol) becomes visible to the devotees. In a human body too, the self is surrounded by three enclosures (Stuula, Suukshma and Kaarana Sareeras). Just like in the temple, here too, the self, which is in the inner most of these three material layers, becomes visible only, when you shed your unique fragrances by burning your Vaasanas. The Vaasanas get burnt up in the fire of knowledge of the self. In this sense, Deham (body) is a Devaalayam (temple).

Thoughts, desires and actions emanate from your Vaasanas in the same way that sounds emanate from the grooves of a gramophone record. As long as Vaasanas exist in you, thoughts desires and actions will constantly flow out of you. You cannot abstain from action while the Vaasanas are still present in you.

The Vaasanas are the result of past actions. At the same time, Vaasanas also become the cause - and action becomes the result. This cycle goes on like the seed and the tree or the egg and the hen. This is the cause and effect phenomenon in action. Thus,

• Past actions produce the present Vaasanas
• Present Vaasanas produce future actions

The next thought is about Vaasanas drive you helplessly to commit sin.

Thought 121: Reprogramming yourself

2010-08-08T22:39:00.001-04:00

Information that gets into the subconscious mind is the basis of all your beliefs and actions. What gets through into the subconscious mind, however, is what is allowed to get through by the conscious belief system, which acts as an aperture with a shutter. The belief system closes and opens the shutter of this aperture; this is how it regulates the flow of information into the subconscious mind. Any information, which runs counter to the belief system is effectively filtered out. This is how the subconscious mind acquires all its limitations. Subconscious mind has no limitations except those put on it by your belief system and your self-talk. The information, which gets through, determines your self-image. Your self-image determines, in turn, your performance. You can always, of course, improve your self-image, by reprogramming your subconscious mind.

The thinking, analysis and determining part - that is, the reprogramming part - is done by the conscious mind. The conscious mind tells the subconscious mind what is to be done. The subconscious mind implicitly obeys the commands of the conscious mind. Since it cannot think, subconscious mind believes that whatever has been told by the conscious mind is the truth. Subconscious mind acts like a computer, obeying the set of instructions programmed into it; “garbage in and garbage out” has far as the subconscious mind is concerned. If the program says "you can do it", subconscious can do it and it does it. Nothing is impossible for it. On the other hand, if the program says "you cannot do it", subconscious mind cannot do it. It will not do it also.

Negative attitudes – which are a legacy of the programming of the childhood days (see thought 56) - give rise to negative self-talk in you. This is how you continue to put limitations on yourself. These limitations are programmed into you by your self-talk. These are the tendencies (Samskaaras) that you acquire. You can only act according to what has been programmed into you.

However, you do not have to carry the burden of these tendencies all through your life. You can change – provided, of course, you have the determination for doing so. Just as, when you load a new program into a computer, it will ignore the old program and execute the new program, your subconscious mind also executes the new program, deleting effectively, what has been programmed earlier. It is easy to do that. This is done through a technique called, imprinting. Dr Robert Anthony, in his book, "The Total Success", describes this technique in great detail. If you reprogram yourself properly using this technique, you can overcome many of the limitations that have been programmed into you in your childhood. You can, thus, cancel most of the limitations of your past and start with a new promise and a new expectancy. The learning process, which started when you were born, therefore, need not stop when you grow up. Reprogramming is continuing education. Education is a "womb to tomb" occupation for man.

The next thought is “About Vaasanas”

Thought 120: About your mind and self talk

2010-08-03T22:29:00.001-04:00

You are always associated with your mind. You always go wherever your mind goes. Because of this, you may be tempted to assume that you are the mind. You are not your mind; you are the Awareness, which vivifies your mind. Mind gains consciousness because of the presence of Awareness in it.

Mind is where happiness and sorrow reside. Mind is a flow of thoughts. Happiness is a thought. Sorrow is also a thought. You are not your thoughts. You are the Awareness over which thoughts ride piggy-back.

You can always dissociate from any thought that you do not like. You can always dissociate your self from sorrow. Dissociation from sorrow is happiness.

Your mind is always talking. It is never silent. You are vaguely aware of this self talk. Self talk is registered in your subconscious mind. What is registered in your subconscious mind is what determines your nature. Curb the self talk, which is negative. Encourage the self talk which is positive. This is how you can become a positive person with high self esteem.

The next thought is about “Reprogramming yourself”

Thought 119: About Likes and Dislikes (Continued)

2010-07-31T12:43:00.002-04:00

You are born with certain likes and dislikes. You are not only born with some likes and dislikes - but you also pick up some more likes and dislikes in every life, unknowingly, of course. These likes and dislikes are buried in every person’s subconscious mind and this “sub” will surface at the right time. These buried likes and dislikes are called Samskaaras.

Our ears, skin, eyes, tongue (palate) and nose are called the sense organs – which are five in number. They sense sound, touch, form and color, taste and smell respectively – which are, therefore, called the objects of the senses or sense objects. Every sense object is either liked or disliked.

Every person is attracted by what appears agreeable to his mind and repulsed by what appears disagreeable to his mind. Agreeability and disagreeability do not, of course, inhere in the objects; they are only in the mind of the person viewing the objects. The buried likes and dislikes, which are the Samskaaras, decide what is agreeable and what is disagreeable.

Likes and dislikes are also called Raagas and Dveshas (in Sanskrit). Every person expresses his nature in terms of his Raagas and Dveshas, over which, he seldom has any control. The senses themselves do not have these likes and dislikes. Senses merely report about their (sense) objects and the person develops the likes and dislikes - develops Raaga and Dvesha to those sense objects, based on his Samskaaras.

When you analyze carefully, your activities are not caused by your “Raaga-Dveshas” - but by your identification with them. Although every person is endowed with a “free will”, this “free will” cannot determine what thoughts you should have and what thoughts you should not; they are only decided by your identification with your Raaga-Dveshas. But the “free-will” can determine how far you should go with each thought as it arises in your mind. By refusing not to dwell on certain thoughts, you can get out of the spell of your “Raaga-Dveshas”.

Avoid coming under the spell of your Raaga-Dveshas, because, they are your enemies. Actually, Raaga-Dveshas by themselves are not the enemies - but when you come under their spell, they turn into your enemies. When you deliver yourself into their hands, you do precisely what they want you to do - and you do not do what you should be doing in your own interest.

The next thought is “About your mind and self talk”

Thought 119: About Likes and Dislikes

2010-07-27T21:34:00.001-04:00

Every one has likes and dislikes. You too have them. Likes and dislikes are the contact lenses through which everyone looks at the world. When you look at the world through your likes and dislikes, you create a private world of your own. This is a subjective world – which you superimpose over the objective world created by God. Your interaction with the world, then onwards, is always on the basis of this superimposed, subjective, private world of your own creation.

This is how a belief system is built up in each individual. Beliefs could be many and varied. For instance, you may believe that “X” is a bad person and “Y” is a good person. Once this kind of belief is formed, you refuse to see facts that do not support your belief. You refuse to see the good aspects of “X”, as also, the bad aspects of “Y”. Any information, which opposes your belief is not allowed to enter – the shutter closes against such information, as in a camera.

Because of these preconceived notions, you believe what you want to believe – and therefore, you are never objective. Those, who are subjective, are always at a disadvantage, than those who are objective. These preconceived notions (formed as a result of your likes and dislikes) do not allow you to take proper decisions – because your decision is only as good as the information that you have.

Consider, for instance, that you are assessing the suitability of a person for a professional job. His professional skills alone should decide your opinion of his performance and value to the organization – not his looks, sex or race, language, culture, caste, community, etc. In practice, you find that professional skill and capability will never be the sole criterion. There will always be extraneous considerations, which are going to ultimately decide his suitability or otherwise.

The next thought is about Likes and dislikes (Continued)

Thought 118: The Natural “You” and the Unnatural “You”

2010-07-24T22:15:00.001-04:00

Hunger, thirst, sleep etc just happen – they are not the result of your thinking. Anger, hatred, sadness, depression etc, on the other hand, involve thinking; your mind produces them.

In the thinking, which brings anger, hatred, sadness, depression etc, your mind does not seek your permission; it does these things ignoring your upbringing, culture, education etc. The “natural you”, of course, is quite different from the person, who becomes angry, hateful, sad and depressed.

Mind can bring senses, body, reason, culture and everything else under its control. For instance, no one wants to be unhappy - but one is unhappy frequently, all the same. No one enjoys being angry, but one becomes angry frequently, all the same - uncontrollably angry, at times. Anger, hatred, sadness, depression etc are all conditions of mind, indicating some kind of internal conflict, over which, persons seldom seem to have much control. Any kind of conflict causes unhappiness.

Anger, hatred, sadness, depression, etc are not your real nature. If they are your nature, then, you would be happy when you are angry, when you hate, when you are sad, when you are depressed, etc. Our experience shows that no one is happy when angry, when hating, when sad, when depressed, etc. Anger, hatred, sadness, depression, etc are unstable states – they make a person unstable. It is easy to disturb an unstable state. Disturb the unstable states of your mind - and become happy.

Happiness is natural to a person. Happiness is a stable state. We do not want to disturb this state. When we disturb this state, we become unhappy.

Thus, in every individual, there exist two persons - a “natural person” who is happy, cheerful, enthusiastic and an “unnatural person”, who is afflicted by anger, hatred, sadness, depression etc. Occupying the same mind, this “unnatural person” seems to take charge, as long as the moods, such as anger, hatred, sadness, depression, etc, last.

Your goal should be – to be the “natural you” more time in a day than the “unnatural you”. This reduces conflict in your mind – which makes you more happy. Dr Seuss says “Be who you are and say what you feel - because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind”.

The next thought is “About likes and dislikes”