Everyday, newspapers bring you bad news about your lifestyle- everything you eat - is dangerous. You're all gonna die soon, they proclaim. Scaring people, is a highly coveted and highly paid profession. Today, we no longer fear ghosts. We fear these articles which spell doom. Today, I read an article about how physical education at school is very important for attention in children. I have no doubts about that. Training in some sport and/or music makes a person better equipped to deal with life. It creates certain neuro circuits which help us in many ways. I understand and believe that. But, what more I speculated from the article was, with such realizations and the clammer to join gyms and do yoga and become size zero - we're probably creating a trend where everyone would want to get into the sports or fitness industry. Every second person you meet would be doing dance or sports. I already know a few IT folks who quit their jobs and are yoga teachers. I am not running them down here, I am happy that they realized what they wanted and got into yoga. But there are many who are likely to pursue sports or fitness just because it's the next booming industry. The next big thing! Maybe preschool is also a big thing. Everywhere around me, I see children's playschools and extra curricular activity areas. So much that I myself quit the idea of pursuing that area as it's too crowded already and I don't know if I can add any true value.
Now, to the reflections made. Every era or decade brings with it certain trends. Most of us know only of the fashion trends but there are other trends that society conceives and assimilates and percolates...and spreads. They spread with such force and zeal and breadth that millions of people know the trend...and are brooding about it. I do not have the wisdom to understand why such trends start.
Some decades back Engineering and Medicine were the trends. That means every parent or every student aspired to be engineers or doctors. Before that there was an IAS wave. There was then a subtrend of IT/ computer science or Nanotech/biotech. There may be big trends and sub trends within them. Within computer science, there are millions of people who do startups or want to do startups. Millions of people create apps for Android and iPhone. We create an impressive trailer for some new ideas and the society subscribes in millions. The society then pursues those trends. It's amazing how we can capture the collective imagination of a huge society that way. The whole flat, globalized world is amazed by the iPhone and Google glass. To some extent even the Higgs Boson finding made many non science people sit up and read abt it, whether they were interested or not, whether that finding really could add value to their lives or not. It amazes me how we responded collectively to such things. Even the support for the Delhi rape, was a pretty gallant attempt to unite and show our concern and courage.
Back to trailers, look what Apple did. They created the iPhone and did such an amazing trailer that now everyone wants an iPhone. Everyone HAS a smartphone already. Amidst all of this, Nokia and RIM are in crisis, while Samsung and Apple remain afloat (or rather laugh their way to the banks). Sometimes, the trends become unsustainable because they were conceived with flaws. They were conceived in a hurry to make quick bucks, without forethought, without sufficient analysis of all aspects of the product or its engineering or its intended and unintended use. I put the onus solely on the creator. The one who creates such trends should think of the side effects. The end user can get sucked in easily. As a society we do what our neighbours do. It's no longer neighbour's envy, owner's pride (whoever intelligently conceived this concept, hats off). It's now "own it before thy neighbour does" or "Own whatever thy neighbour owns". The user too has to do his homework but I assume the creator is more powerful and well informed than the user here.
Speaking of the onus on the creator, I still cannot forgive the people who invented cigarettes. Did they or didn't they know that it caused cancer? Did they still sell that stuff knowing fully well that they are selling death? Now that people got hooked onto it, we can't de-addict so easily. It's not easy to de-addict. It's easier to not know a thing than to know and like and to then forget. There are one off cases wherein great humans like Einstein also committed mistakes which he hugely regretted.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/11/ive-created-a-monster-on-the-regrets-of-inventors/249044/
Sometimes, the bubble bursts. If we work in that area -many of us fall.. we're scattered, shattered and wrecked and wracked. We don't know what wrecked us. It's unfathomable. We are clueless what hit our lives and why we have to suffer for someone else's mistakes. Look at the global recession that was triggered by some wrong calculations done by a bunch of folks in the US. Some survive the bubble or catastrophe- maybe the ones really meant for that field or ones with divine powers or simply ones who planned well and stayed focussed and cool. I don't know the pattern of who survived. All I know is - some survived well.. some manage to float.. some sank without a trace.. some almost drowned but picked themselves up and lead a different life.
We'll talk about the ones that got up, dusted themselves and re-looked at themselves. They see what went wrong. They see why they failed - was it intrinsic or extrinsic. Was there something they could have done better? Was there something they did not foresee? Did they do right by following the trend? They do a lot of introspection and analysis. It could take years or months to conclude. In that time, they suffer.. in many ways (physical, mental, social, financial). Some fall off and perish during this introspection cycle. Some endure. They (most probably) go one to reinvent themselves, which basically means, change perspectives. Change the filters to your eye and the mind. Look at who you are, what you want and what best you can do to achieve happiness in life. Do you really need that luxury car and swanky home? Did you love that plush job where you sat glued to the computers for hours? They ask uncomfortable questions. They take bold steps. They attend some courses to improve themselves or work as apprentices. Most often they may seek emotional help through friends or doctors. Then slowly - very slowly they put their 'life' back together. They may win a modest success, but if they've done the homework well on that failed ground.. they are better off to face any challenge. They are changed for eternity and equipped with life guards. It's as if each of their cells and genes were replaced. They got a pair of fresh eyes, a new nose, new ears and new skin. They see beauty everywhere, they breathe afresh... they hear the music always...they feel afresh. They are more aware of themselves, their thoughts, actions and feelings. They are better in control of their emotions. Eventually they are better in control of their destiny. They may still fail, but they never damage themselves due to those failures. They re-assess. They constantly introspect and re-assess and change their path. They accept their follies better. They quit when they foresee many bad things. Else they stay and fight with the right perspective. Eventually they know more about themselves and their shortcomings and deal with it peacefully, and also with the world at large. These people - are heroes. Unknowingly they've researched philosophy and sociology. They have unknowingly internalized the vedic literature which teaches you who you are and why you're here. The essence of life and all crisis is to make you ask those basic questions about yourself and your relation to this universe and immediate surroundings. It is to help you find the root cause of all suffering and take the lesson so that we do not suffer again - atleast not for the same set of things... If we mindlessly do things and unfortunately for us, if we never fail, we become delusional - we think we've succeeded but we haven't moved an inch. We're there exactly where the creator left us - physically and mentally. We have no true growth. These people who failed, introspected and picked themselves - are heroes...warriors...they should be proud of themselves. It's not easy to confront your demons.. to accept your mistakes.. to acknowledge and correct your mistakes and thoroughly shake your ground, lose all that you have and start afresh with nothing in hand. You renounce your old thoughts and beliefs and personality. You are willing to appear as a fool to the world. I remember Sadhguru saying "unless you unlearn whatever you've accumulated and call as self, I can do nothing with you". One day or the other, we have to unlearn what we learnt through the mind.
(Good things to read at this point:
http://jaiarjun.blogspot.in/2009/12/private-luxury-doing-your-own-thing.html
http://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/teachings/instructions/
http://www.theminimalists.com/fc/)
Life is cyclic. Life is joyful - whether you're a flower seller or a janitor or a teacher or a programmer. We have super imposed many artificial things on top of plain life - success, fame, money, power, Monday to friday, 9AM to 6PM job, day job, night job, performance appraisals, traffic rules, laws for the country, national borders, international laws, social media, economy, marketing, etc. That's why we respect an actor more than our gardener. Why don't we have some kind of Oscars to reward our talented gardeners and janitors? Don't they deserve one? Who says their job is low grade? Why did Gandhiji clean his own toilet? Our gardener directly helps us see the flowers of his effort but we don't respect him because we have been programmed that only certain jobs are great, fancy, extra ordinary and worthy of praise. We neglect a huge part of humanity because of this flaw. We do not know the name of our maid but we know every little detail about Hrithik Roshan's private life. This "neglect" and "fear of becoming obsolete" and "fear of dying a life un-noticed" makes people do crazy things like stripping for the Indian cricket team or conducting a self-degrading swayamwar. If the people near and dear to us know us, understand us, respect us - we may, to some extent get rid of this celebrity culture and be proud of our ordinary lives. If we build strong communities and bond, we may be better off. I am also not sure if we were meant to work Mondays to fridays and at certain approved hours. If we were made that way, no one would experience monday blues. If we all had an inherent compass and traffic rules within, we don't need external rules. Some of the rules exist - purely to make life more manageable. With the current population, these rules are there to ensure that we live and let others live peacefully. Despite traffic rules existing, why do so many people break rules? Why do people commit crimes like rape and murder? Read this awesome piece here:
http://blog.ishafoundation.org/lifestyle/why-human-transformation-is-the-only-way-to-prevent-rape/
I just know that life is meant to be joyful. More than that, I don't know if anything else is true of life. We have survival and procreation for biological reasons. Even here, the Hindu concept of birth, re-birth and moksh are beyond my understanding. There is so much joy and creation around that if we re-align ourselves and change our perceptions of LIFE, DEATH and everything in between..and introspect and observe and act in awareness, we can create our own alternate world. If we understand who we are, what we want and change our definitions of LIFE, WORK, PLAY, etc.. We can perceive a different life. Even a pot of tea simmering can show us amazing things and bring joy. When you cut a bright red, juicy tomato, you can experience the highs of teenage love. That's how such a small and seemingly insignificant thing, which we pass by everyday without recognizing or acknowledging - can bring huge changes to our day. Such awareness and appreciation is what I call being meditative. I want to be meditative the whole day. It's not enough to meditate for 30 minutes. It's truly not enough. A whole day in meditation and if possible, in utter silence, can do wonders to humans. In our quest for trends and success and money and thoughtless actions - we have drowned ourselves in the humdrum of machines and traffic horns. We have truly forgotten to recognise the joy that's staring at us right in front of our eyes by chasing the stars that are billions of light years away. (Oh.. I am being too philosophical, can't help. Also, these are truly the words spoken by a totally jobless, unsuccessful person. Grapes are sour, aren't they? If you choose to look at it that way.)
We need just one good song, one comic strip, one good article a day - to hear, to learn and be happy. We don't need the hundreds of articles flooding the internet. We don't need to mindlessly listen to a thousand songs while travelling to work. One song would do. Anything simple, done with utmost awareness, as if your entire wellbeing depended on how well you treat that one thing or executed that one job you're currently doing- is a source of great joy. And it's these small magical moments - the right song that you heard, that superb article you read and the funny comic strip you laughed at... can make your day from average to ecstatic. Today, my day opened to fresh sunlight and a cool fragrant breeze. The weather itself brought in great cheer and uplifted my spirits. And as if the divine wanted me to continue feeling UP, he sent me a beautiful article on flower sellers which I posted here earlier. (http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/fragrances-of-life/article5160070.ece?homepage=true)
Then I chose the right song - Omana Penne and listened with utmost awareness.. and my day already feels full.. and blissed. I could top up the happiness by going to Cubbon and read under the huge trees, while being intercepted frequently by the chatter of squirrels and barbets and the breeze that has all the blades of grass swinging in harmony and joy.With so much joy, who needs to become the CEO of some billion dollar company or become a celebrity? Today, did any of them or can any of them experience the level of happiness that I, who am jobless, almost penniless, experienced? No wonder, the meditating daily labourer without a home enjoys more happiness than the CEO in his plush office and swanky car. I also have this insane thought now. What if I journalled every single thing that I did today and repeat the same tomorrow? How would the 2 days feel? I will do this one day. Would life becoming unbearably boring if today is the same as tomorrow? What do people mean when they say you can cross the boundaries of time and space when you are fully aware? How would it be to experience such things? Would it feel like Alice in Wonderland, like Harry Potter or The Matrix? Was Matrix based on spirituality? If I become fully aware and realized, how will my life look like? Will I become dull and boring and disinterested in all things? I wonder, how life will be. I wonder how these great sages's lives are. Once you attain that level, what do you do next? Do you take up a job and earn money or you start your ashram or join some other ashram? I am very curious to cross the line and see.
I was also thinking - Simbu can die in peace today (according to me) after giving that stellar performance in VTV. Aamir can also cross the line of life after having achieved TZP and Satyameva Jayate. That's enough achievement for a lifetime. What is it for me, which when I achieve, would be enough to say "Now, I am done. This is all I needed to do. Now, I can rest in peace"?
As of now, I need to chart a course of action. Simple things to increase my awareness every day. I cannot achieve big steps immediately but by consistently following a list of small, easy steps.. and progressing, I may climb the spiritual ladder and attain some level of "realization". With that, we come to the end of a really long article.
Biliography and useful additional references:
Be free from "Me":
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=PdGwAAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
Guru Pournami and suffering:
http://blog.ishafoundation.org/sadhguru/spot/guru-pournami-the-first-guru/
Sadhguru on falling out of love because we grow differently:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sadhguru/marriage-growing-apart_b_1027914.html
Sadhana for taming the mind:
http://www.srinannagaru.com/articles/english/quote/index.php
Some notes on meditation:
http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/10/if-youre-too-busy-to-meditate/
Meditation makes you more productive. Meditating daily will strengthen your willpower muscle.
How? By increasing your capacity to resist distracting urges.
Research shows that an ability to resist urges will improve your relationships, increase your dependability, and raise your performance. If you can resist your urges, you can make better, more thoughtful decisions. You can be more intentional about what you say and how you say it. You can think about the outcome of your actions before following through on them.
Our ability to resist an impulse determines our success in learning a new behavior or changing an old habit. It’s probably the single most important skill for our growth and development.
As it turns out, that’s one of the things meditation teaches us. It’s also one of the hardest to learn.
It’s easier and more reliable to create an environment that supports your goals than it is to depend on willpower.
Meditation gives you practice having power over your urges so you can make intentional choices about which to follow and which to let pass.
Problem with intellect instead of intelligence:
http://satgurucharitra.blogspot.in/2013/06/guru-bodha.html
My own observation for today:
Some things are easier to handle than others. It's easy for me to deal with being at home and feeling the urge to get back to work than staying at work and wanting to go home on a sunny day. Somehow we seem predisposed to handle some situations better than other situations, while other people may deal with the ones we feel tough to handle, and find those situations tough to handle, which is easy for us to handle. Point to note. So, take up what you can handle. If you already foresee trouble and you have not been successful multiple times at handling it, let go.
Now, to the reflections made. Every era or decade brings with it certain trends. Most of us know only of the fashion trends but there are other trends that society conceives and assimilates and percolates...and spreads. They spread with such force and zeal and breadth that millions of people know the trend...and are brooding about it. I do not have the wisdom to understand why such trends start.
Some decades back Engineering and Medicine were the trends. That means every parent or every student aspired to be engineers or doctors. Before that there was an IAS wave. There was then a subtrend of IT/ computer science or Nanotech/biotech. There may be big trends and sub trends within them. Within computer science, there are millions of people who do startups or want to do startups. Millions of people create apps for Android and iPhone. We create an impressive trailer for some new ideas and the society subscribes in millions. The society then pursues those trends. It's amazing how we can capture the collective imagination of a huge society that way. The whole flat, globalized world is amazed by the iPhone and Google glass. To some extent even the Higgs Boson finding made many non science people sit up and read abt it, whether they were interested or not, whether that finding really could add value to their lives or not. It amazes me how we responded collectively to such things. Even the support for the Delhi rape, was a pretty gallant attempt to unite and show our concern and courage.
Back to trailers, look what Apple did. They created the iPhone and did such an amazing trailer that now everyone wants an iPhone. Everyone HAS a smartphone already. Amidst all of this, Nokia and RIM are in crisis, while Samsung and Apple remain afloat (or rather laugh their way to the banks). Sometimes, the trends become unsustainable because they were conceived with flaws. They were conceived in a hurry to make quick bucks, without forethought, without sufficient analysis of all aspects of the product or its engineering or its intended and unintended use. I put the onus solely on the creator. The one who creates such trends should think of the side effects. The end user can get sucked in easily. As a society we do what our neighbours do. It's no longer neighbour's envy, owner's pride (whoever intelligently conceived this concept, hats off). It's now "own it before thy neighbour does" or "Own whatever thy neighbour owns". The user too has to do his homework but I assume the creator is more powerful and well informed than the user here.
Speaking of the onus on the creator, I still cannot forgive the people who invented cigarettes. Did they or didn't they know that it caused cancer? Did they still sell that stuff knowing fully well that they are selling death? Now that people got hooked onto it, we can't de-addict so easily. It's not easy to de-addict. It's easier to not know a thing than to know and like and to then forget. There are one off cases wherein great humans like Einstein also committed mistakes which he hugely regretted.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/11/ive-created-a-monster-on-the-regrets-of-inventors/249044/
Sometimes, the bubble bursts. If we work in that area -many of us fall.. we're scattered, shattered and wrecked and wracked. We don't know what wrecked us. It's unfathomable. We are clueless what hit our lives and why we have to suffer for someone else's mistakes. Look at the global recession that was triggered by some wrong calculations done by a bunch of folks in the US. Some survive the bubble or catastrophe- maybe the ones really meant for that field or ones with divine powers or simply ones who planned well and stayed focussed and cool. I don't know the pattern of who survived. All I know is - some survived well.. some manage to float.. some sank without a trace.. some almost drowned but picked themselves up and lead a different life.
We'll talk about the ones that got up, dusted themselves and re-looked at themselves. They see what went wrong. They see why they failed - was it intrinsic or extrinsic. Was there something they could have done better? Was there something they did not foresee? Did they do right by following the trend? They do a lot of introspection and analysis. It could take years or months to conclude. In that time, they suffer.. in many ways (physical, mental, social, financial). Some fall off and perish during this introspection cycle. Some endure. They (most probably) go one to reinvent themselves, which basically means, change perspectives. Change the filters to your eye and the mind. Look at who you are, what you want and what best you can do to achieve happiness in life. Do you really need that luxury car and swanky home? Did you love that plush job where you sat glued to the computers for hours? They ask uncomfortable questions. They take bold steps. They attend some courses to improve themselves or work as apprentices. Most often they may seek emotional help through friends or doctors. Then slowly - very slowly they put their 'life' back together. They may win a modest success, but if they've done the homework well on that failed ground.. they are better off to face any challenge. They are changed for eternity and equipped with life guards. It's as if each of their cells and genes were replaced. They got a pair of fresh eyes, a new nose, new ears and new skin. They see beauty everywhere, they breathe afresh... they hear the music always...they feel afresh. They are more aware of themselves, their thoughts, actions and feelings. They are better in control of their emotions. Eventually they are better in control of their destiny. They may still fail, but they never damage themselves due to those failures. They re-assess. They constantly introspect and re-assess and change their path. They accept their follies better. They quit when they foresee many bad things. Else they stay and fight with the right perspective. Eventually they know more about themselves and their shortcomings and deal with it peacefully, and also with the world at large. These people - are heroes. Unknowingly they've researched philosophy and sociology. They have unknowingly internalized the vedic literature which teaches you who you are and why you're here. The essence of life and all crisis is to make you ask those basic questions about yourself and your relation to this universe and immediate surroundings. It is to help you find the root cause of all suffering and take the lesson so that we do not suffer again - atleast not for the same set of things... If we mindlessly do things and unfortunately for us, if we never fail, we become delusional - we think we've succeeded but we haven't moved an inch. We're there exactly where the creator left us - physically and mentally. We have no true growth. These people who failed, introspected and picked themselves - are heroes...warriors...they should be proud of themselves. It's not easy to confront your demons.. to accept your mistakes.. to acknowledge and correct your mistakes and thoroughly shake your ground, lose all that you have and start afresh with nothing in hand. You renounce your old thoughts and beliefs and personality. You are willing to appear as a fool to the world. I remember Sadhguru saying "unless you unlearn whatever you've accumulated and call as self, I can do nothing with you". One day or the other, we have to unlearn what we learnt through the mind.
(Good things to read at this point:
http://jaiarjun.blogspot.in/2009/12/private-luxury-doing-your-own-thing.html
http://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/teachings/instructions/
http://www.theminimalists.com/fc/)
Life is cyclic. Life is joyful - whether you're a flower seller or a janitor or a teacher or a programmer. We have super imposed many artificial things on top of plain life - success, fame, money, power, Monday to friday, 9AM to 6PM job, day job, night job, performance appraisals, traffic rules, laws for the country, national borders, international laws, social media, economy, marketing, etc. That's why we respect an actor more than our gardener. Why don't we have some kind of Oscars to reward our talented gardeners and janitors? Don't they deserve one? Who says their job is low grade? Why did Gandhiji clean his own toilet? Our gardener directly helps us see the flowers of his effort but we don't respect him because we have been programmed that only certain jobs are great, fancy, extra ordinary and worthy of praise. We neglect a huge part of humanity because of this flaw. We do not know the name of our maid but we know every little detail about Hrithik Roshan's private life. This "neglect" and "fear of becoming obsolete" and "fear of dying a life un-noticed" makes people do crazy things like stripping for the Indian cricket team or conducting a self-degrading swayamwar. If the people near and dear to us know us, understand us, respect us - we may, to some extent get rid of this celebrity culture and be proud of our ordinary lives. If we build strong communities and bond, we may be better off. I am also not sure if we were meant to work Mondays to fridays and at certain approved hours. If we were made that way, no one would experience monday blues. If we all had an inherent compass and traffic rules within, we don't need external rules. Some of the rules exist - purely to make life more manageable. With the current population, these rules are there to ensure that we live and let others live peacefully. Despite traffic rules existing, why do so many people break rules? Why do people commit crimes like rape and murder? Read this awesome piece here:
http://blog.ishafoundation.org/lifestyle/why-human-transformation-is-the-only-way-to-prevent-rape/
I just know that life is meant to be joyful. More than that, I don't know if anything else is true of life. We have survival and procreation for biological reasons. Even here, the Hindu concept of birth, re-birth and moksh are beyond my understanding. There is so much joy and creation around that if we re-align ourselves and change our perceptions of LIFE, DEATH and everything in between..and introspect and observe and act in awareness, we can create our own alternate world. If we understand who we are, what we want and change our definitions of LIFE, WORK, PLAY, etc.. We can perceive a different life. Even a pot of tea simmering can show us amazing things and bring joy. When you cut a bright red, juicy tomato, you can experience the highs of teenage love. That's how such a small and seemingly insignificant thing, which we pass by everyday without recognizing or acknowledging - can bring huge changes to our day. Such awareness and appreciation is what I call being meditative. I want to be meditative the whole day. It's not enough to meditate for 30 minutes. It's truly not enough. A whole day in meditation and if possible, in utter silence, can do wonders to humans. In our quest for trends and success and money and thoughtless actions - we have drowned ourselves in the humdrum of machines and traffic horns. We have truly forgotten to recognise the joy that's staring at us right in front of our eyes by chasing the stars that are billions of light years away. (Oh.. I am being too philosophical, can't help. Also, these are truly the words spoken by a totally jobless, unsuccessful person. Grapes are sour, aren't they? If you choose to look at it that way.)
We need just one good song, one comic strip, one good article a day - to hear, to learn and be happy. We don't need the hundreds of articles flooding the internet. We don't need to mindlessly listen to a thousand songs while travelling to work. One song would do. Anything simple, done with utmost awareness, as if your entire wellbeing depended on how well you treat that one thing or executed that one job you're currently doing- is a source of great joy. And it's these small magical moments - the right song that you heard, that superb article you read and the funny comic strip you laughed at... can make your day from average to ecstatic. Today, my day opened to fresh sunlight and a cool fragrant breeze. The weather itself brought in great cheer and uplifted my spirits. And as if the divine wanted me to continue feeling UP, he sent me a beautiful article on flower sellers which I posted here earlier. (http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/fragrances-of-life/article5160070.ece?homepage=true)
Then I chose the right song - Omana Penne and listened with utmost awareness.. and my day already feels full.. and blissed. I could top up the happiness by going to Cubbon and read under the huge trees, while being intercepted frequently by the chatter of squirrels and barbets and the breeze that has all the blades of grass swinging in harmony and joy.With so much joy, who needs to become the CEO of some billion dollar company or become a celebrity? Today, did any of them or can any of them experience the level of happiness that I, who am jobless, almost penniless, experienced? No wonder, the meditating daily labourer without a home enjoys more happiness than the CEO in his plush office and swanky car. I also have this insane thought now. What if I journalled every single thing that I did today and repeat the same tomorrow? How would the 2 days feel? I will do this one day. Would life becoming unbearably boring if today is the same as tomorrow? What do people mean when they say you can cross the boundaries of time and space when you are fully aware? How would it be to experience such things? Would it feel like Alice in Wonderland, like Harry Potter or The Matrix? Was Matrix based on spirituality? If I become fully aware and realized, how will my life look like? Will I become dull and boring and disinterested in all things? I wonder, how life will be. I wonder how these great sages's lives are. Once you attain that level, what do you do next? Do you take up a job and earn money or you start your ashram or join some other ashram? I am very curious to cross the line and see.
I was also thinking - Simbu can die in peace today (according to me) after giving that stellar performance in VTV. Aamir can also cross the line of life after having achieved TZP and Satyameva Jayate. That's enough achievement for a lifetime. What is it for me, which when I achieve, would be enough to say "Now, I am done. This is all I needed to do. Now, I can rest in peace"?
As of now, I need to chart a course of action. Simple things to increase my awareness every day. I cannot achieve big steps immediately but by consistently following a list of small, easy steps.. and progressing, I may climb the spiritual ladder and attain some level of "realization". With that, we come to the end of a really long article.
Biliography and useful additional references:
Be free from "Me":
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=PdGwAAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
Guru Pournami and suffering:
http://blog.ishafoundation.org/sadhguru/spot/guru-pournami-the-first-guru/
Sadhguru on falling out of love because we grow differently:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sadhguru/marriage-growing-apart_b_1027914.html
Sadhana for taming the mind:
http://www.srinannagaru.com/articles/english/quote/index.php
Some notes on meditation:
http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/10/if-youre-too-busy-to-meditate/
Meditation makes you more productive. Meditating daily will strengthen your willpower muscle.
How? By increasing your capacity to resist distracting urges.
Research shows that an ability to resist urges will improve your relationships, increase your dependability, and raise your performance. If you can resist your urges, you can make better, more thoughtful decisions. You can be more intentional about what you say and how you say it. You can think about the outcome of your actions before following through on them.
Our ability to resist an impulse determines our success in learning a new behavior or changing an old habit. It’s probably the single most important skill for our growth and development.
As it turns out, that’s one of the things meditation teaches us. It’s also one of the hardest to learn.
It’s easier and more reliable to create an environment that supports your goals than it is to depend on willpower.
Meditation gives you practice having power over your urges so you can make intentional choices about which to follow and which to let pass.
Problem with intellect instead of intelligence:
http://satgurucharitra.blogspot.in/2013/06/guru-bodha.html
My own observation for today:
Some things are easier to handle than others. It's easy for me to deal with being at home and feeling the urge to get back to work than staying at work and wanting to go home on a sunny day. Somehow we seem predisposed to handle some situations better than other situations, while other people may deal with the ones we feel tough to handle, and find those situations tough to handle, which is easy for us to handle. Point to note. So, take up what you can handle. If you already foresee trouble and you have not been successful multiple times at handling it, let go.
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