Go and Die

Every Indian knows who Sachin Tendulkar is. He is pride of India. Was the official criteria for India’s highest civilian award modified with an eye on Tendulkar is a question on debate. Until 2011, Bharat Ratna was conferred ‘for the highest degrees of national service’ which included artistic, literary, and scientific achievements, as well as recognition of public service of the highest order. Whatever, he is a legend, who in his lifetime has earned loads of money and recognition. Of all the stories about him, what that touched me most was his sincere answer, which he recently gave a reporter, that it is a few coins which he got in his childhood that he honours the most. He disclosed the story in his usual meek voice. 

When he was a child he had a coach named Ramakant Archrekar. Every time he sent Tendulkar for batting, he used to put a few coins on his bat saying that it belongs to him if he stays in the field. This prompted Sachin to face each ball very carefully and cautiously. He wanted to stay in the field.   We know that this is the prime reason why he could turn into a legend later. For Sachin, each ball was important; he played as if he knew that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. I share this incident because I feel that the present generation, though struggling hard to win every game, lacks something crucial. 

A few years back, a boy used to visit me occasionally. One day he asked me what he requires most in his life. I told him to go and die. He was surprised to hear me say so. I slowly turned to him, looked at his face and said, “DIE means Dream, Intend and Experience. Dream with a belief that you have the right to wish whatever you want; earnestly intend that you want it and live in that experience of having reached it.”  Slowly, he got what I meant and now he is one among the most successful entrepreneurs of the times. He belongs to the shortlisted thirty most successful Indian entrepreneurs of 2013, according to a survey done by a team of IIM students from Indian IIMs. Some months back, I learned that the slogan of his company is ‘Dream, Intend and Experience’. The difference I found in his understanding is that he learnt not only how to dream but also how to intent and experience. This is where the new generation varies, as I feel it. Successful intending means handling each situation with utmost accuracy so that it meets what you propose. For successful people, no cloud is waterless; so are situations. They know that fortune favours the bold. They also know that ‘he that wills the end wills the means’ also.

Joseph Mattappally

Non-Violence And Violence

The Scriptures say: “Ahimsa paramo dharmaha; dharma himsa tathiva cha.” Non-violence is the greatest religion; so is righteous violence. Here religion could be thought of as a way of living and being. Mohandas Gandhi practiced non-violence in personal life and politics, and freed India from the shackles of the British. He met with a violent death at the hand of an extreme Hindu nationalist, Nathuram Godse. The Hindu nationalists thought Gandhi’s appeasement of Muslims by giving too many concessions paved the way to the partition of India. Interestingly two distinct views on non-violence and violence can be traced to two great leaders who emerged from Hinduism: Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, who was a great believer in God, and Vinayak Savarkar, the Father of Hindutva and Hindu nationalism, a prominent president of the Hindu Mahasabha, who interestingly was also an atheist. Gandhi’s view of Ahimsa Paramo Dharmaha can be considered to be Ahimsa Paramo Sneha (Non-violence is perfect love). Gandhi would rather be killed and die without hatred for the assassin than kill someone to save his life. Vinayak or Veer Savarkar,  one of the accused in the assassination of Gandhi but freed on a technicality, inspired and promoted Hindu political unity and social consciousness, can be considered to be an advocate of Ahimsa Paramo Dharma as well as Dharma Himsa Thathaivacha.  The Gandhian view of non-violence facilitated the independence of India. His method was also successfully used by Martin Luther King, Jr., in the USA to obtain civil rights for African Americans, by Nelson Mandela in South Africa to abolish the apartheid and  thereby to secure freedom for the blacks. The Gandhian non-violence, still remaining a great ideal, suffered a serious set- back in the country of its origin as evinced by violent activities of all political parties that  not only curtail freedom but also lead to anarchy and violent chaos.

Jeevo Jeevasya Jeevanam (life is sustained by life). Strong animals kill weaker ones for food.   Primitive humans killed weaker ones when there was no other food. In nature violence is routinely observed. Only humans have the will to commit or not to commit violence, to repress or sublimate violence for a higher cause. Gandhian non-violence or the teaching of Christ, that exhorts one to show the left cheek when one is slapped on the right,  can come under sahana yoga (union through suffering), and can achieve a higher moral or spiritual goal. That may also mean the other side has a minimum required conscience to bring about the right result. In the best award winning picture  Gandhi produced by Richard Attenborough after about twenty years of research on Gandhi’s life, there is the famous scene of Gandhi’s followers producing salt from the ocean in civil disobedience of the then British law in India, getting arrested, and brutally and inhumanly beaten by the police. The American reporter sending news across the ocean to the USA stated that on that day the British lost whatever moral ascendancy they had over the Indian people. Sahana yoga worked with the British. Would it have worked with Hitler? I doubt it. Did Hitler have a modicum of conscience. I doubt it. So Dharma Himsa leading to the theory of righteous self-defense  or, for that matter, just war among nations when all other means have been thoroughly exhausted, may have to be very sparingly used. While I like to eliminate righteous self-defense or just war in favor of perfect non-violence (love) as a moral weapon, righteous violence (dharma himsa) can be justified.  The war in the battlefield of  Kurushetra that is also the dharmakshetra (the field of righteousness) wherein Krishna exhorts Arjuna, confused and beset by the unthinkable prospect of killing one’s own revered grandfather (pitamaha) and teacher (guru), to do one’s righteous duty even to the point of killing, is an instance of just and righteous war that takes place after all other options have been tried and failed. Non-violence is always desirable and is of paramount importance. But in very rare situations righteous violence may be exercised as a last resort and as a lesser evil. Dharmo rakshati rakshitah (Righeousness protects the one who protects righteousness).

Swami (Dr)  Snehananda Jyoti:

Wait Loss

Wait Loss No, I did not spell it wrongly. Yes, you pronounced it correctly. The power to wait is almost lost in some people of this generation. People of my father's age wanted to have their own home at the age of fifty five. People of my age wanted it at the age of forty and the new age people want it at the age of twenty five. Now, people are ready to take any amount of loan for all kinds of desires. Everyone wants to enjoy the physical wealth for as long as they can. The term “patience” is a matter of gyan which elderly people provide to release their frustration. This is what is believed by some young people today.

No, my readers! I just now did not have any heated arguments with my son. Actually I am lucky to have one who doesn't fight with me on these issues. So, the reason I am writing this is because I have been observing and it is my personal experience that success comes either by accident or by patience. The success that comes by accident is short lived and the one which comes by patience is usually much more satisfying and it remains for long.

But remember! Patience is not another name for laziness. It is what Columbus had shown while on his way to India and then finding America. It is what Helen Keller had shown by repeated efforts of learning even after her disabilities. It is what Mother Teresa had shown while treating the dying destitute. Yes! these are names of people who made history. What is patience in a common person? We see it in a mother who patiently waits for her child to grow-up gradually. We see it in a teacher who waits for his pupil to understand the lesson and use it in life to prosper. We see it in some people in the society who want the systems to change for the better.

So readers! Gain wait to gain Happiness.

Dr. Sunil Ji Garg

Positive Attitude

Allow yourself to dwell only on the positive and not the negative.

English heart surgeon Martyn Lioyd-Jones asserted, “Most unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself rather than talking to yourself.” What kind of voice do you hear?  If you are hearing negative messages, you need to learn to give yourself positive mental pep talks. The best way to retain your attitude is to prevent your mind from going down any negative forks on the road. Your attitude dictates and controls your life, influencing how you see and interact with the surrounding world. Further, it is not what happens to you that affects you but how you respond to what happens to you. Thus the critical difference lies in your attitude towards life.

Feed yourself the right “food.” If you’ve been starved of anything positive, then you need to start feeding yourself a regular diet of motivational material. Our attitude determine what  we see and how we handle our feelings. These two factors greatly determine our success. Your attitude covers every aspect of your life. It is like the mind’s paintbrush. It can paint everything in bright vibrant colours- creating a masterpiece. Or it can make everything dark and dreary. Attitude is so pervasive and important that some people come to think of it as the librarian of your past, speaker of your present and the prophet of your future. There is not a single part of your current life that is not affected by your attitude.

The apostle Paul is a great example of someone with a marvelous attitude. Through all of his trials, God had been right there by his side. But never once did he blame God for his misfortune. Instead, listen to the positive attitude in Paul’s words as he was imprisoned for preaching the gospel, “I  want you to know, beloved, that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel.” No moaning, no complaining. Just a marvelous attitude that brought joy to his life. May it serve as an example to us in our daily living!

Sr(Dr) Lilly Thokkanattu

Non Attachment 11

It is not that we will miss anything if w& Happinesse take life as a play. The truth is that it will add quality of our life and it will make for its richess and excellence. Therefore Krishna says, “Yoga brings excellence to your actions.” In fact, when life becomes a play, all its pinpricks and hurts go, all its thorns disappear and we are left with its flowers in our hands. If life is a play, why any one should burn in hell fire of hate and anger? Then only a mad man will enact anger and hate in his life. And all sensible people will enact only love and affection. If we are to dream, why dream that we are a begger? Then everyone will dream thaey are kings. If we explore our doings with attention we will find that we are playing roles all along the road of life. We are enacting the role of father and a son, a mother and a daughter, a wife and a husband, a friend and a foe. We really need to observe and examine all our actionsminutely and see if they are different from acting. And we will soon laugh at ourself. Maybe we are crying and watching our tears, and soon we begin to laugh inside. Maybe we are quiet one thing on the outside and quiet its opposite within. And by and by our life will turn into a play. 

A Zen monk was dying and he called his friends and said, “Countless people have died, but, I want to die in a novel manner. Please help me.” His friends laughed at him. But after discussing a lot the monk decided that he will die on head stand pose of Yoga. He died head stand pose of Yoga. But dying in that way created a problem for the whole monastery. This man/ monk who can die playfully, knows that life is a play. He lived playfully and died playfully. And he also knows what action without a motive, without being attached to the fruits is. When one turns his work into play, his whole life becomes a play. Then he can take everything, including death, as a play. But this is possible only when we know the real actor within us. We don’t have to act, we are already acting and we have only to know the truth of it. Krishna does not tell us become an actor, or to parctice acting. If we practice we will remain a doer, and we will become serious about every role. Krishna says we have only to know the reality of our life. As far as he is concerned, he knows for himself that it is nothing different from acting. And once we know it for ourself we will cease to be a doer in life. Then our life will turn into a play, and that is what Sannyas is. 

Krishna speaks of two kinds of action: one is action without attachment, and another is inaction with a sense of involvement in action. These are two ways of Sannyas and action, and it depends on us which way we choose for ourself. Someone can choose doing and yet remain a non-doer, and another can opt for non-doing and yet remain a doer. 

Wishing you good health & happiness,

Dr. Dwarakanath, Director, Mitran foundation-the stress management people

Talk to Strangers

Once I had a very strange experience during my morning walk in the Vasundhara colony of Ghaziabad. This is a colony in the development of which I took a keen interest as the Housing Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh. I stay there quite often, even though I have ceased to hold the job, and enjoy the place. Any development in this colony still gives me joy as it relates to my memories. During the above mentioned morning walk, I saw a boy in his school uniform on the roadside, apparently waiting for his school bus. As I approached him, I felt like talking to him in order to know about the progress of schools in the colony. With this intention, I stopped near him and asked his name very affectionately. He paused for a few seconds and then giving a strange look asked me as to how I was concerned with that. I, certainly, was not prepared for such a reply and was, therefore, taken aback for a few seconds. I then asked him if it was this which was taught in his school. To this, he very innocently replied, “We are taught not to talk to the strangers.” This reply of his was sufficient for me to understand his dilemma and I did not raise any further questions. 

But this incident made me think deeply about the progress we are making. The child was not to be blamed at all because the school authorities must have genuinely felt that it was the best way of saving children from being cheated by strangers. However, in the process they forgot to realise that if children don’t talk to strangers, whom should they talk to then? After all, to begin with, everyone who comes in our contact is a stranger. It is only when we meet them and talk to them that we get to know them. At best, it can be advised that one should be careful and wise while interacting with a stranger but to put a blanket ban on such interactions is certainly harmful and destructive. 

All of us know that our friends were strangers to us at one point of time. Even a mother is a stranger to the child at the time of birth. It is only when they come in contact and interact with each other that a bond is created, which is perhaps the strongest possible bond. The message, therefore, is that if we want to seek inner expansion we must talk to strangers and any advice contrary to this is wrong. I wish that the modern world would realise this fact, so that the joy of living is not lost. 

Rakesh Mittal I A S

Absolutely True

The words, complete and finished almost always carry the same meaning; but when it comes to refer a marriage, they expose their real faces and arrange in a harmonious chain and appear ‘completely finished’. Words change their meaning and appeal according to time, situation and place. The matter would not have been a serious concern, unless some of them would not have turned harmful. The impressions some words leave on the human psyche sometimes grow into a threat. The best examples are words like over, perfect, done etc. Similar words referring to an end, a break or a stop point should be redefined. Looking closely, we find that nothing is complete, there is no finishing point as such anywhere and everything is imperfect. What is the point in pleading for a recheck? Its’ because I feel that a sense of ‘no more’ if added at any point may mark even the end of human advancement.

Recently, we hear a lot of loud cries from all around, over the plastic waste that is growing into a threat. At nature parks, I have seen hoardings saying that a plastic is the last recycled thing in the universe. I once thought that our only option with plastic is not to produce it. Last week, I happened to read coverage on a few enthusiasts who grew a particular variety of bacteria which could recycle plastic fast. Petrol prices are always on hike; I read about an eighth standard motor mechanic successfully attaching a self designed unit with a four stroke engine and increasing the vehicle’s fuel efficiency by 23%, as officially agreed upon after lab tests. I read about a college girl who introduced a typical car washing glouse, to which a water hose is connected. The glouse has holes in it and using it we need only less water to wash any car. I heard about a village sect who uses a natural glue, secretion from some insects or whatever, used inside their clay cooking utensils to make them non-stick. I also read about a drummer who attached special containers and sticks on the drum stands around him, which allowed him to use different sticks at different tunes, without waste of time. If ever any of them had affirmed that what was found out or in use is always were the perfect and the last, they could not have contributed their share.

This is about physical inventions and social achievements. What that shakes me most is the danger hid behind ‘perfectionists’ in religious realms. The one who thinks that I have understood everything and sticks on to the old beliefs and conclusions belongs to the lost class. They can be easily defined ‘ignorant’. They not only spoil themselves but also the entire humanity. A trip towards truth always is that of distinct and new realizations at every point. No doubt that great nations are due to great people, who believe that the best book is yet to be written. 

Joseph Mattappally