TOO MUCH MATERIALISM IS INJURIOUS TO HEALTH!

Generally we are driven by comparison mania. If our neighbor brings home a new product, our heart craves to possess that by hook or crook. Whenever such thought crops up in your mind, just pause and think of the fate of people living in utter poverty.

Anupam Kher, the best character artist of Bollywood in his book " The Best Thing About You is You!" says that

" I would like to share with you a beautiful thought, which I came to know many years ago and which has stayed with me : I always longed for a pair of shoes, until I saw someone with no feet. The powerful imagery of this humbling thought has always stayed with me. So too is a Gandhian saying "There is enough for the world's needs, but not enough for the world's greed."

We can lead a decent life with minimum possessions. Once a man or woman crosses forty, this wisdom must prevail. We must learn not only from the experience of ours but from other people's experiences which offer insights to lead a happy life. Like Anupam suggested, you must feel blessed with what life offered to you and there lies wisdom without pomp and show!

FASTING AS A TOOL FOR SELF-AWARENESS

 

It is said in Ayurveda that you should take food as medicine, otherwise you are perforce take medicine as food.

In my childhood days, my mother put us on fasting every Monday in Kartik maas (November - as per Indian calendar ) and myself and sisters used to take circles around the kitchen during those hungry hours  when sumptuous food is served after evening puja.  To endure the pangs of hunger, she used to  advise us to immerse in our  regular activity rather  thinking  food every moment. It is a tradition laced with potential health benefits.

Now after three decades, I am  back to fasting with rekindled enthusiasm after I was  convinced enough of  its immense health benefits.  

In fact, fasting is a cleansing process which takes out the toxic substances from your body. Spiritual luminary Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev says Once in every 11 to 14 days, you may not feel like eating. On that day, you should not eat. You know, even dogs and cats have this awareness?  At least every 14 days, you could go without food. If you are unable to go without food, if your activity levels are such and you don’t have the necessary sadhana to support you, then you could go on a fruit diet. Just observe your own system, and you may notice that on certain days, you do not really need to eat. Forcing food on those days is not a good thing to do.

Fitness guru Rujuta Diwekar in her best seller " Don't lose your mind, Lose your weight' says Fasting is a powerful tool as a spiritual practice, but nowadays it is used mainly as a weight loss tool by 'experts'. 

All most all religions have fasting  embedded in their cultures. If you remain on fasting,  your decision-making  faculties would excel  and it  helps you gain more self-control. 

ROAD TO SERENITY

 

Never talk about the faults of others, no matter how bad they may be.  Nothing is ever gained by that.  You never help one by talking about his faults; you do him an injury, and injure yourself as well.

                                                                          -  Swami Vivekananda

Most of us  indulge in gossip and  dwell at length on the faults of others,  forgetting  our  own.   But the wisdom masters say that this trait will  put you in deep trouble and rob your own inner serenity.

When you talk  ill of others, the toxic emotions are bound to destabilize your own emotional balance.  That's why you must concentrate  your energies more on your own conduct than onlookers.     

Some months back I wrote this wonderful quote of Dalai Lama in my journal which I come back and forth to remind myself  of the truth:

If someone remains in a peaceful and tranquil state of mind, external surroundings can cause them only a limited disturbance.quo

If you are in a situation  which you can't  tolerate, better to walk out  politely instead of silently enduring the ordeal.   Suppose if the situation doesn't permit you to leave, be prepared to endure with full acceptance.   You get more inner strength by reading this famous quote of American novelist and short story writer James Lane Allen:

Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the creature of outside conditions, but when he realizes that he is a creative power and that he may command the hidden soil and seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow, he then becomes the rightful master of himself.

NEW YEAR GOALS

The other day when I browsed the morning headlines in the newspaper, one piece of news caught my eye.    It suggested some mobile app to accomplish New Year Resolutions. I laughed myself the way technology is suggested to strengthen the inner resolve.

We are already having superior technology inside each of us which converts the 'bread into blood'. What we need is only to have full heart to achieve our goals.

I don't think you need a mobile app to achieve your goals, What I suggest is, invest some bucks in small whiteboard and hang it into your study/ living room and write your goals there with a deadline. See the board as frequently as possible during the day which would strengthen your resolve and auto-suggest your mind to work towards the goals.

I think this whiteboard is the most workable formula. Don't clutter that board with lengthy resolutions. Write each goal/resolution in two or three words with a timeline. Don't write more than 5 Resolutions. Why 'Five', because you have five fingers so that you can instantly remember them when you are out of board's sight. Seeing the white board daily would train your mind in accepting them for accomplishment.

Split each goal/resolution into workable actions with clear deadlines and when you achieve even a small part of that goal, announce to the world or your near and dear ones about your achievement so that their words of appreciation ignite you further in achieving your leftover goals.

Further, you take a snapshot of your goals written on the whiteboard with your mobile phone and review it frequently even during 'on-the-go.

Some months back, I opened a notebook called "Black Book' in which I elaborately wrote what are my strengths and weaknesses and what are my goals to be achieved. The following is a rundown of my Goals:

1) Physical Fitness Goals - Healthy life

2) Intellectual Goals - Utilize all my Inner Resources/ talents the Creator has endowed me

3) Children Career Goals - Make them worthy of society

4) Financial Goals - Wealth at a comfortable level

5) Relationship/ Family /Welfare Goals - Good Samaritan

Under each primary goal, there are sub-goals which must be diligently written in a notebook meant for your goals and you need to give ‘timeline’ for each sub-goal. Some action under all five categories need to be taken on daily basis and it should be reviewed daily/weekly/fortnightly.