Time to Change

The way we are living life today when compared to few years back, there is a drastic difference. If we go back further in time there will be no similarity perhaps. The life today is led through means which require considerable use of mind and much less use of the body. 

Let me illustrate going through a typical day - you get up and are greeted by the housemaids and cooks you instruct them what needs to be done or cooked. Then you get ready, are off to office, you need to drive which also requires some mental skill, driving can be stressful for the mind with the way traffic moves in my city and I am sure it can be similar for same or other reasons in other cities. In office with your laptops, blackberry or smartphones, technological aids the work gets done  - all done through the use of mind and least physical work.  You come home driving back. At home high chances that work may be at back of your mind. If you are a family person you end up managing the demands of wife, kids; again requiring mental strength. 

All the above is aided by technological aids which itself transform within a span of 2 years and that adds more pressure to the mind to learn how to handle these new aids. If you don't get it you will be left behind and in some time the earlier aids will not be available at all - so you have to learn.

In contrast if we go back in time the requirements of mind, body were very different. This is also the reason why kids today are more developed mentally and not physically. The stimulus to mind they get today is extremely higher. This brings me to the conclusion that we need to give up old ways of training ourselves, our kids. No longer the old system can ensure we keep healthy. A lot of people if are suffering from diseases of mind (it could be mild depression, stress or severe breakdown) is because they are not trained enough for the demands of life. Understanding of the mind and its training is where we must put considerable time. 

Move away the wisdom of the parents, life is changed it is time to create new wisdom. 

How to become Perfect

Every time I go attend trainings or read some self help articles on how to become better in life I feel miserable.  Miserable as I think they are a complete waste of time. 

The programs can only sell if they give a definite solution to the aspect they address. Therefore you will see in all such articles or programs there is always a few points solution  - Do these 5 things and master leadership. These are the secret of effective communication deciphered form the greatest, a sure shot way to negotiate your way through deals if you follow these steps, follow this and you shall manage the change effectively.

MASTER THESE !!!! there are enough examples they have changed people and their lives.. transformed is the word the best trainers use..

I wish it was this simple and all of us had become perfect by now !! .. It never works as real life scenarios has many shades and a simplistic linear solution never works, it is a medley of many such steps in varying proportions which works. It has to be decided basis the situation at hand and it is a subjective decision. This decision making unfortunately does not have any steps, it can never have. Let me illustrate this with a few wisdom quotes:

ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT

vs.

TIME AND TIDE WAIT FOR NONE

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE

vs.

THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH

Contradictory principles when what applies and to what degree is a subjective decision, similar is about these trainings and articles. They can be good guiding post but no elixir.

Our trainings to make people better at what they do needs to change. It cannot be point solution but all trainings must be directed at the individual. It should train individuals at first to give tools to do a careful and honest self assessment plan and then directed towards working on the emotional quotient which is keeping the person away from being effective.

Being Happy

Happiness this is what we all are chasing, that is one and only goal which all of us have... Then there are complex theories of philosophy, psychology, growth, wisdom to explain this. I wonder is it so complicated that you need tonnes of brain power to get into philosophy, psychology to be happy... Cannot be. The creator or God has really messed up if it is this tough. 

A lot of people wonder on my status of being single and assume that I should be married to be happy.. The notions of happiness for people are set, have a partner, money. All this can make you happy. The judge who has been meditating for an out of court settlement believes so she said to be happy i must get over with this, stop thinking what is right or wrong just go ahead and be happy get the case over and marry again and be happy. 

On the contrary I am very happy. I may not be acquiring the conventional list for being happy. I am happy as I am without fear and insecurities, I am happy as I feel that happy. I have kind of drugged my mind, exercised and trained my mind to be happy. It is just the state of mind. It is an inner process and not acquiring a car or a wife, how can that make me happy as they are not inside me, inside me is the mind which controls everything. 

Lets look at anger to be angry do you need to acquire anything? you just feel angry as your mind does not let go of what happened, it is not trained to let go of, it is just sticks to it and is unforgiving, it is just in the mind. So is happiness it is another feeling which comes out of how you react to your interactions with life.

Happiness is a simple process of understanding the mind and steering it in right directions. Acquiring this knowledge of inner self is what leads to happiness. No complex theories of philosophy and psychology!

Continuing Education

I was wondering why formal education stops after school. The adults have much more capacity to comprehend and much clarity as to what they want.. The needs are different it is no longer linked to education leading to a degree but it is about what one wants.. It is about growth..

Human beings are blessed with this capacity and no other living being is; yet most around seem to be wasting it. We should have a school of adult education and am not talking about the ones which are for literacy but higher education about subjects which interests adults and their life phases....

Vipassana. The art of living

Often I am asked what is meditation especially vipassana. For me it is so much part of me and having never gone into theories just jumped into practical a while back I have never been able to answer it to my satisfaction. I wish to give a perfect answer which may encourage someone to take the course. 

Given have not been able to answer it well this is my attempt to explain it, hopefully next time i will do a better job. 

In simple terms vipassana is an exercise of mind, a comprehensive exercise which helps one understand the truth of our nature, helps in get in touch with oneself and that too at an experiential level and is beyond philosophical, psychology theories one gets to read or understands logically. 

One gets to experience the truth about oneself through internal observation. It is not an exercise of introspection but watching oneself and understanding the games which are played inside this life, your own life. Understanding oneself is the first step to improving oneself, so one can say it is a kind of education about self and life. 

In our daily life we keep programming ourselves basis the daily experience we have. This experience is fed to us through our 5 senses and mind. Each interaction is stored in form of a meaning, interpretation and that leads to a state of being - happiness or unhappiness. The state of being is thus stored in this program as desirable or undesirable. All of us are programmed thus each minute interaction of ours is stored thus. 

Minute could be as minute as the impact of me typing on the key boards, at the same time my mind thinking what to write, the smell in the room I am sitting, the butt paining due to sitting for long hours, mind feeding with some past memory of a great blog or something it is addicted to; at any point of time innumerable interactions are going on though we are only attentive to most gross interaction (unconscious mind is attentive to all)  and these interactions keep creating a state of being, desires and hatred. We are made of such millions of conclusions/ programs; the consequence are our personality, our state of being - lows and highs, value system, etc. Our basic nature is of being happy, calm and peaceful but we rarely are as we are reacting to all these interactions as stored inside all of us. Billions of such interactions, that is how we are programmed. 

Vipassana helps you understand this cycle of programming and how we could get free of this program and get to the state of calm, happiness and peace ! It trains the mind to be in control and not get led by this program of past experiences or future desires...

Life Myths - 1

Myth:

Visualize, Slog, Slog, Visualize, Slog and life will be as you desire... A happy ending.



A concept you would have seen in many movies one i remember is "In Pursuit of Happyness". Its a big myth media, movies, novels glorify this. the motivational speakers, spiritualists, trianers make money out of it.



I am not a pessimist or hopeless but i am a realist. I beleive that there are geniuses and mentaly challenged.. 2 extremes and all the billions of people on this earth are interspersed between this 2 extremes. Only a few are on the extreme and not everyone can become or is a genius. One genius who is born in penury and he may achieve what Will Smith did in the movie but that is once and only one in a lifetime.



This whole concept is so flawed but so interesting (come to think of it someone is promising you the world if you slog) that most people fall for it and only later they realize that it is not happening as they had seen, visualized and they get hopeless. hopeless to an extent that it becomes difficult to get them out of this and help find happiness.



True happiness comes from accepting yourself as you are and being able move ahead step by step from there. But at the same time also remember that at times destiny has a differnt story for you and you may end up being pushed backwards.. The happiness comes from the journey and having some love around you. Your acceptance of your self and having people around you who repsect who you are and help in taking you ahead in the journey of life.



Even our education system is made of making everyone a genius/ expert, however they have a new concept of multiple intelligence and one should find his/ her attribute of intelligence where one is genius. It is flawed it must just focus on finding what you are better at and can make a good living and you can grow.



True happiness lies in finding yourself and knowing yourself and planning life accordingly. Not biting more than you can chew that you choke yourself or not dreaming what will only frustrate you and make you feel smaller. Just know and move ahead.. you may become a genious in this way but may not also. Just get along and enjoy the journey...