I​ was recently a part of a tourist group​ visiting the Indo China Border in Arunachal Pradesh. The tourist groups were accompanied by an Army Person entrusted to brief us about the border area and its history. As with every Army briefing, this one also started with the Army Person saying “Jai Hind” in response to which everyone in the tourist group reciprocated. One person in the group requested him – “Ab Har Har Mahadev ho jaye”, to which the Army person very politely declined saying that in the Army they only identify with being in the Army and nothing else since there are people of various faiths and religions in the army and he went on to say that hence in the Army, they have “Sarva Dharma Sthal” wherein people of all religions could practice the rituals of their respective religions and that they celebrate all festivals whether it is Id, Diwali or Christmas.

And I stood wondering there that if such an understanding is possible at the grassroot level in the army, that religion is a private affair between Wo/Man and Her/His Creator then why is it being worn on the sleeve by others? Politicians will leave no stone unturned to ensure their victory whether it is religion or money for votes, it is left upto us to decide whether we want to adhere to such divisive tactics. It is important for each one of us to know that we are humans first and last, what religion, language, sexual preference, etc we hold is our private matter and so long as we don’t disturb others with it, it is the duty of the government/society to allow the peaceful practice of it. 

I guess it’s time that we make Army training compulsory since at a family level the samskaras are being influenced by religion, caste, status, etc. It is necessary to allow the young minds to know that being human first is critical and thereafter to have free choice of what religion, etc you wish to pursue…

Whether you evaluate your life in terms of time or money, you are wasting ​both by accumulating and managing clutter(things that you don’t really need or use). I realised this once more when I had to spend time deleting mails from my gmail account and observed that I shouldn’t have allowed the clutter to accumulate in the first place. As they say, if you wish to save/conserve water then you have to first find and plug the leak. Time is non-renewable so don’t spend it on things that are useless…

Use the declutter techniques of  “Not used for more than 1 year” or simply think that you are shifting your home and are moving into a studio apartment – what would you take and what would you leave? It is difficult to let go of the objects with emotions attached – Oh I bought this on this trip or so & so had gifted it to me, etc. Most difficult is the clutter of relationships we have with people. This is emotional clutter which also has to be eventually dealt with.

Self Realisation is nothing but realising that “I/Me/Mine” is the ultimate clutter that has to be decluttered, sooner the better…

In Feudal Japan, “Samurai” were warriors who protected their Lord/Master and were called “Ronin” upon passing away of their Lord/Master. The underlying warrior remained the same but just the nomenclature changed since they did not perform any specified role anymore.

When people give prime importance to “doing” over “being” complications arise and you feel lost/inferior if you don’t do something respectable in the eyes of the society. Very few can move away from this trap of allowing “doing” to define you since almost everyone is in the same trap. So they keep “doing” as per dictates of their ego not knowing that bliss is possible by simply changing the context of life and not the content. Changing the context means transcending ego – “being” instead of “doing”…

So where ego is the master, it is better to be a Ronin than a Samurai. 

“Confirmation Bias” is the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories. Most people work through this paradigm and denounce what doesn’t fit their opinions – hence the conflict between Hindu Muslims, bhakts and non bhakts, Bulls and Bears, etc continues unabated. 

There are whole new worlds out there waiting to be experienced if only we can step out of our limiting beliefs.  

Welcome to the concept of omnipotence 

For one to be right the other needn’t be wrong,

For one part to grow the other needn’t shrink/die,…

We are all Divine and hence omnipotent – we need to start living it and experience a completely different world of possibilities which starts with realising the Divinity within…

In is the only way out…

Everyone needs a break, especially from oneself. If you observe, from the moment you wake up to the time you go to sleep you attend to your habits of what you do, how you behave, what you eat, how you sit,….This is dependent not only on yourself but also your surroundings, you behave differently when at home, at office, on vacation…you behave differently when around different people…But a combination of all these varying habits is what you term as “I” which is not a constant, it keeps changing as per situations.

In Accounting, Zero–based budgeting (ZBB) is a budgeting method that requires all expenses to be justified and approved in each new budget period – wherein you make forecasts based on absolutely zero past overhangs – this provides a perspective of the future possibilities without the limitations of the past/legacy. Similarly, you need to do a zero base budgeting for your own life to disconnect from your past and think of where you want to use the energies that you have been granted for the remainder of your life. If you like the possibilities that this exercise throws up, then choose one that resonates best with your wisdom and work towards it one day at a time and have the acceptance to forgo all the other possibilities that cannot be accommodated in your plan….