Duck or Eagle?

There’s an interesting story of a “Duck or Eagle – you decide” floating on Whatsapp wherein a cab driver chooses to focus on rendering a great service to each of his clients instead of sitting and complaining about everything that’s bad with the world around(which is plenty ;-)). The story uses the analogy of ducks and eagles – ducks just make noise and complain whilst eagles soar high. So be an eagle not a duck….

I realise that most people have made it a habit to complain about almost everything that touches their lives and in effect make lives miserable for not only themselves but also everyone around them by focussing on what’s wrong.Now there is another way that could be chosen and that is to find what is right about everything and what is good in everyone – it may not change the factual situation but it puts your mind into a positive frame to find a solution and hopefully does that for others around you as well.

My fathers advice to most sportsmen who he trained as a sports psychologist was “Choice of Focus”. You can and you must choose what you focus on. The mind usually brings up memories of failure that deject you and reinforce the same behaviour repeating the same cycle of failure. Instead you could choose to remember the successes or even imagine you being successful in whatever field you choose and lo! it happens. Try it, it certainly doesn’t harm but puts you in a positive frame of mind.

So the next time you open your mouth to complain about something, know that you could use the same energy to praise something that’s good or better still, start working on correcting whatever wrong you notice, instead of just complaining about it.

Humility

Humility is a sign of spiritual progress. Pride is a sign of ego.

Ego driven/Intelligent people are able to glibly rattle off verses from Holy Scriptures and assume that they are in a position to guide others on the spiritual path but they forget that they cannot share what they have never experienced.

Hence look for humility, silence in Guru’s. Such Guru’s(Ramana Maharshi, Buddha, Nisargadatta Maharaj…)would encourage you to practice silence, being in the moment as a witness and find out for yourself. If you can’t find one then it’s better to walk the path alone….

Your direction is more important than your speed. Look inwards in silence

Yoga

Most people think that Yoga is performing some body twisting exercises to improve flexibility.

Yoga is not only about flexibility(Asana), else every Gymnast would have been a Yogi.

Yoga is not only about breath control(Pranayama), else every endurance athlete would have been a Yogi.

Yoga is not only about maintaining a code of conduct(Yama/Niyama) nor only about withdrawing your attention(Pratyahara) nor only about sitting in meditation for long periods of time(Dharana/Dhyana)

Yoga is all of the above till you realise that life is not about seeking/doing but about accepting/being…(Samadhi)

Yoga Chitta Vritti Nirodha

MAGA+MIGA=MEGA

MAGA+MIGA = MEGA, both depend on how you define “Great”. Is GDP the measure of “Great” or is Technological/ Military Superiority? Complete disregard to environmental sustainability / human values in the pursuit of economic, technological, military superiority, surely cannot be termed as “Great”. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what’s happening.

We live in a world with 8 Billion Human Population & God knows how many other sentient beings spread across different geographies that have been defined by drawing imaginary borders/lines to divide not only land/water/sky but also everything that comes within those boundaries. A handful of chosen or self appointed megalomaniac leaders of the 8 Billion control the fates of others and they seem to be hell bent on defining “Great” as economic prosperity coupled with technological and military superiority…

We have to first redefine “Great” to have a foundation of humanity and environmental sustainability and then make all efforts to get somewhere from there. If we don’t, we may not need any meteors for the extinction of the human race, we will self destruct ourselves….

No country for poor people

Trump has announced a Gold Card scheme that invites people with USD 5 Million to get US Citizenship. Whilst this may sound outrageous, most countries lay out similar Red Carpets for wealthy people, the definition of wealthy however could differ…No one wants the poor people and couldn’t care less what happens to them(deportation, death, …)

In today’s world, whether you live or die is determined by how much money you have and the worst part is we don’t even think that there is something wrong with this line of thinking…

Money is not the culprit, it just provides a medium of exchange and storage. The real culprit is human greed coupled with complete apathy for what happens to others so long as you get what you want…

So, the castles of future are being built on graves of human values and we think we are progressing since our GDP is growing by…%

Time to wake up and smell the coffee?

All is One, One is All

All humans need the same things and yet we have managed complicating our lifestyles so much. When we live in an ashram with the same dress code, dietary restrictions and a bed/mattress to sleep on, we realise that we can live simply but we choose not to, for our own complicated reasons.

We fill our homes with more things than we can use in lifetimes, we chase tasty food, drink, bodily comfort and sensual pleasures and begin to tell ourselves this is life, which is far from truth.

This is all due to the misconception that you are different from others and you spend a lifetime trying to enhance the difference instead of dissolving it. Life actually begins when you accept and realise that we are all the same…

All is One, One is All…

Die empty

Don’t wait, fulfill all desires, is a message that most authors influenced by the Western materialistic thinking will convey, either through a story or through a self improvement book…

Whilst most authors influenced by Eastern Philosophical thought would say desires are the very cause of your suffering…

Both seem to be right in their own ways but who do you follow?

Desires, by their very nature, are endless loops. You fulfill one and another replaces it, perhaps the same one with greater intensity. You then are a monkey in the desire fulfillment circus and you think that life is meant to fulfill desires and nothing could be far from truth. You are not born to fulfill desires, you are born because you have desires…

Liberation is not achieved through accumulating (whether material things or experiences) since you are dependent on the object being accumulated. Liberation is achieved through letting go and being independent… So the key to dying empty is not to keep chasing desires but to rise above them through meditation and experiencing the essence of “this too shall pass”…

Hum Ko Man Ki Shakti Dena

Peter Drucker said – You can’t manage what you don’t measure, but what measures/parameters do you use for the most important things in life that ultimately matter most – love, happiness, friendship, trust, confidence…?

What you achieved or not in measurable things in the previous year/s doesn’t matter, begin the new year with the right parameters to act upon and make the remainder of your life beautiful. How? You don’t need complicated, difficult to understand Mantra’s/philosophies, this prayer written by Gulzar is simple to understand and yet provides very powerful direction

hum ko manaki shakti denaa, mana vijaya karedusaroki jaya se pahale, khudako jaya kare
hum ko manaki shakti denaa

bheda-bhaava apane dilase, saaf kara sake
dusarose bhul ho to, maaf kara sake
jhutha se bache rahe, sachakaa dama bhare
dusaroki jayase pahale, khudako jaya kare
hum ko manaki shakti denaa

mushkile pade to hamape, itanaa karma kara
saatha de to dharm kaa, chale to dharm para
khudape hausalaa rahe, badi se na dare
dusaroki jayase pahale, khudako jaya kare
hum ko manaki shakti denaa

Another new year dawns soon, whether to make it happy or not by looking at & doing the right things, is upto you…