It’s once again the time ​of the year to review the year gone by, to​ reflect on whether to correct or accept but what are the​ parameters to review and what is the scale? ​Well that depends on what it is that you hold important in life. Achievements in chosen professions, vocation is usually what most people would consider important, but what is the quality of their life in the bargain is mostly glossed over in this chase. 

To my mind there is only one parameter that is important and that is bliss/peace of mind, everything else is incidental to the process of life. There is no scale to measure bliss, it is available freely at this moment provided you are able to let go of your worries, tensions, stress and trust that “Jisne choch di hai dana bhi wohi dega”. Work hard in whatever you choose but don’t make your bliss/peace of mind dependent on it and there is only one person who can do this – You!

Moving fast means nothing if you’re headed the wrong way.

Everyone is seeking freedom but what is freedom? An interesting difference was highlighted in a video that I recently saw that gave some clarity regarding “Freedom” – most seek freedom “to do” by various means of accumulating wealth & means to act on whatever they wish to pursue, whilst there is another freedom “from” – freedom from fear, anger, insecurities, etc. The former “freedom to do” (Material Freedom)is only agency to accomplish acts but that is a dependent freedom on present/future accomplishments whilst the latter “Freedom From” (Spiritual Freedom)is a liberation from “I/Me/Mine” that liberates you. 

To seek the latter you need to be convinced that such freedom exists but how can someone born in bondage even know what it is to be free? It has to be a daily leap of faith based on what the Masters have described and to live by their guidance Shraddha(Faith) and Saburi(Patience) till you reach the state wherein “I/Me/Mine” ceases to exist…

The Quality Indexes of Air, Water, Earth, Heat have already reached subhuman conditions in most places. We may soon need to request NASA to start commercial production of the Astronaut Suits designed to physically survive in places where human bodys would not adapt, which would be most of the planet.

The Quality Index of human behaviour, kindness, etc has always been subhuman, save for a few exceptions that remind us from time to time that it is possible to be noble. Even NASA can’t help us in this regard. 

As a race Humans have missed the point so much that God has to incarnate at various points at various places to provide the right direction but we are so clever that we hide all that wisdom in rituals, etc and continue in our race towards self destruction.

But all is not lost, we still have hope (umeed pe duniya kayam hai) – so plant a tree, share your blessings, gift a smile, etc and in doing so not only would you save your own soul but also make the world a better place to live in.

What is a lot and what’s not, is a matter of perspective. How much is enough and what do you do with that “enough” is again a very personal opinion. It is an undeniable fact that money is essential for sheer survival and also to be considered ‘respectable’ in today’s world but an equally undeniable fact is that money isn’t everything – it is a means to an end. 

Now that brings us to the most interesting aspect of what it is that you would do when you have lots/enough money? Most people say that they would live it up and spend all the money but it is not that simple – how you manage/spend your money is habitual and it is very difficult to deviate from it. So whilst there are the splurgers who are simply habituated to spending more than they have but then there are the conservative ones that keep saving for the rainy day, so much so that saving becomes a habit and the rule of compounding money is simple – if you keep it undisturbed in appreciating assets and your earn rate is more than your burn rate then you will accumulate wealth and still spend the same as per your habit pattern. Warren Buffet still eats McDonalds Burger Meals daily and yes with Coke and fries(Worst diet as per present Dieticians) and he is one of the wealthiest men in the world.

So earn and burn(post saving enough), spend on/do the things you’ve always wanted to do, don’t measure your worth with the money in your bank. Don’t convince yourself that you are working for your family and the coming generations which, as a dear friend says, (inheritance) is a curse if the people inheriting are not capable in their own right. Making future generations capable should be an effort, not leaving wealth for them that they won’t know what to do with…

I recently came across a book that was about achieving “Success and Wealth” and I thought to myself whose definition of success & wealth? Is success in winning every game that you choose to play or is it in knowing that the game you have chosen is wrong in the first place & if your success depends on being better than others in some way then is that really success? Is wealth an ever increasing number in your bank account or is it having a calm and peaceful mind?

We have accepted many definitions without considered thought. It’s like being in a marathon race where everybody seems to be running so you feel that you must run too but why run in the first place is rarely thought about. It is time that you stop and think about what success/wealth really means to you and are you on the right path to achieve it. It may not conform with the socially accepted definitions but that’s expected, so long as it makes you a more peaceful person you are headed in the right direction.

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.