FOUNTAIN OF YOUTHFUL ENERGY

 

Vivekananda is synonymous with rousing enthusiasm and youthful energy. Though the soil of Bengal has given birth to so many spiritual luminaries  like Ramakrishna, Lahiri Mahasaya, Paramahamsa Yogananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Aurobindo Ghosh, no other had huge public outreach like Swami Vivekananda. This darling child of Mother India propagated the message of Indian Spirituality beyond national boundaries.

 

Whoever remembers Vivekananda,  they are engraved with his famous Chicago Speech given at Parliament of Religions on 11th September, 1893. It had an electrifying effect on American minds of that time and literally created waves in their society.

 

Narendranath Datta (Vivekananda's family name) was born on Monday January 12, 1863 to Bhuvaneswari Devi and Viswanath Datta in Kolkata.  He soon showed a precocious mind and developed a keen memory. Vivekananda in his later years once said to an audience that " I am indebted to my mother for whatever knowledge I have acquired.'   At the age of fifteen he experienced his first spiritual ecstasy.

 

Naren had first heard about Sri Ramakrishna from a relative, Ramachandra Datta who was one of the foremost householder disciples of the Master.   Having understood his spiritual bent of mind, he was advised to visit Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar.  The young Naren met Ramakrishna for the first time in November 1881 in the house of the Master's devotee Surendranath Mitra.  He was invited there to entertain the visitors with his melodious music. Having been impressed, Ramakrishna asked Narendranath to visit him at Dakshinewar. During the meeting when he  posed Ramakrishna a question "Sir, have you seen God ? the master replied without a moment's hesitation " Yes, I have seen God.’’ He further said him that ‘’ I had seen God like I saw you.’’ Naren was astounded with the master’s reply.  Ramakrishna in fact waited the eager arrival of Vivekananda to whom he transferred his spiritual energy thereby, he became a World Teacher with his first visit to America and later to Europe and other countries.

 

Ramakrishna knew the energies of Vivekananda. The master in his own words said that “among lotuses, Narendra is a thousand-petaled one”. Naren assumed the name of Vivekananda at the time of his departure for America in 1893.

 

Vivekananda's famous Chicago speech at Parliament of World's Religions on 11th Sept., 1893 with his starting salutation "Brothers & Sisters of America" enthralled the seven thousand packed audience. His extempore talk captivated the audience and sprouted the seeds of spirituality on American minds.

 

The influence of Swamiji on stalwarts like Mahatma Gandhi and Subhash Chandra Bose not only enriched their personal lives but contributed immensely in liberating India from British clutches. What we need to learn from Swamiji's life is his inquisitive mind. 

 

Reading his literature stirs the blood with mystical energy. The core philosophy of Vivekananda centers on divinity within us. While defining education, he says that it is the manifestation of perfection already in man.

 

Vivekananda in his brief sojourn of 39 years on this planet has literally brought a spiritual revolution. He is the first Indian who propagated the Message of India on Western soil. Swamiji's words are like live ammunition which triggers us into deep thought process, sharpening our intellect and bring utmost humility. Swamiji is a hardcore pragmatist. What he taught, he lived through. He exemplified the life of Advaita philosophy.

 

He is a living embodiment of what an ordinary man could achieve even without sufficient ways and means but only an iron will to spread the message of his Master. In a tribute of his immense contribution, Govt. of India declared 12th January as  'National Youth Day'.

 

As long as Indian philosophy lives through this civilization, Vivekananda remains the torch-bearer of Wisdom at the world stage.

DECORATE YOUR OFFICE WITH THROBBING LIFE

 

 

A lion's share of one's time is spent in professional life. Therefore the ambiance surrounding the work place, specially, your desk should be carefully planned.

The world's most creative company : Google has a very flexible system where the employees can have the liberty to decorate their desks according to their interests, so as to remain enthusiastic, creative during work hours. In fact the company has nap pods  for their employees to let exhausted employees enjoy a quick nap during afternoon hours.

Once you are in a sedentary job, you are very prone to weariness.  More over, it is very important to protect yourself from occasional emotional outbursts which is an activity of reptilian brain i.e. Fight or Flight. Once, we have been evolved as humans, it means we must be more contemplative in our actions.

Irrespective of gadgets you put on your desk, don't forget to put a plant or sapling, in and around your work space. Once you put a plant, it means that you put a throbbing life in front of you.

In a study conducted by researchers at Texas A& M, workers with plants in their offices showed more creativity in thinking up new ideas and approaching old problems. The study further reveals that the employees not only increased their efficiency but also added colour and freshness to the  otherwise dreary office environment.

So, what you are waiting for ? Plunge into action and decorate your desk  to  burst into creativity.

STAY HUNGRY, STAY FOOLISH

 

There is no straight-jacket formula for success. It is an assortment of strategies combined with precision, and of course luck and destiny play  their roles.

When we see the lives of great leaders, it looks that they have not been extra-ordinary to reach to that level.   Only their passion drove them insanely great.           

 

Steve Jobs falls into  this rare category of unconventional leaders. The world is abyss to carve out his difficult lessons. His biographer Walter Isaacson says that he acts as if the normal rules don’t apply to him.

          Jobs’ life is a story of rags to riches. The reason behind why people attentively listen to his words is  that he brought passion, intensity, and extreme emotionalism to everyday life that helped to shape his products viz. iMac, iPod, iPod nano, iTunes Stores, Apple Stores, MacBook, iPhone, iPad, App Store, OS X Lion.


            For me he is an essence of arduous spiritual practices doing silently behind scenes. He abhors the idea of ''market research'' to see what customers wanted. He says that customers don't know what they want until we have shown them. He invoked Henry Ford's line " If I had asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, Á faster horse !

           His earthly sojourn of 56 years is worth to be remembered. He redefined the way we do personal computing. Now computers not only shrank their size, but envious features were injected  into their circuit boards   making sharing of data & multimedia an effortless spool across all devices and platforms.

          The company, Apple he co-founded in his parents’ garage in 1976 rose as the world’s most valuable company. When asked why he has a tendency to be rough on people, he replies that “look at the results”.   His inspiring leadership could be emanated from the fact that each year he takes his top 100 people on a retreat so as to indoctrinate them with his philosophy. He loves white-boards because they give him complete control of  situation and they engender focus.

         The ads of his products are always unique in a sense that they give much larger meaning. Take this ad appeared in his first marketing brochure : “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

       His product launch sessions are worth to be watched. Even being in the midst of provocative technological aids, he hates power-point presentations.  His argument is palpable. He says that ‘I hate the way people use slide presentations instead of thinking. People would confront a problem by creating a presentation. I wanted them (his team) to engage, to hash things out at the table, rather than show a bunch of slides. People who know what they are talking about don’t need Power Point.’

           One would never forget his immortal words at Stanford University on June 12, 2005 ”Remembering that I will be dead soon is the most important tool I have ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not follow your heart.”

         At another occasion, he says that “your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” Though, the fate has mercilessly taken away jobs from the world 5th October 2011 by pancreatic cancer, his pragmatic approach to life continues to inspire succeeding generations.

EMPATHY - THE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT TO LIVE LIFE AT GROUND ZERO

When you  see people in destitute, you show  sympathy to them which will not mitigate their miseries as they  need the required help for which you must have empathy.

Empathy means step into other’s shoes. It is just like reading their mind and thinking from their perspective. Unless you are at ground zero, you can not think at their level. The moment you think at their level, then you could establish a divine contact with them and whatever the little act of kindness you do,  not only soothe them but  also brings them a tremendous inner joy.

Understanding the problems of others and giving a  lending ear are some of the noble acts which will rise you above beastly existence.

In fact, sensitivity and creativity are twin sisters. The moment you have one, the other comes naturally to you. Having empathy reflects your degree of sensitivity and concern on fellow beings/creatures.  So you must come out from the pre-conceived mindset and start responding in a more constructive way which will leap the otherwise foggy relationships,  whether it is within family or society.

I was awe-stricken when eminent Hindi film hero Aamir Khan who hosted the famous TV show " Satyamev Jayate " started crying while hearing the heart-wrenching stories of a victim in his show. In fact, my eyes were welled up with emotion when I watched the episode titled "domestic violence'. But the cynical media accused him of 'acting' and the director of program Satyajit Bhatkal brushed aside such claims and said that Aamir is a sensitive person. He cries on  regular basis even for the smallest of small things. Like Bhatkal said,  any sensitive person will be moved when he or she listens such heart touching stories

After all, we are all humans blessed with the divine quality of empathy and those who indulge in acts of cynicism should be taught a lesson, of course with more empathy !