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July 13, 2005
Garam masala for the soul
This week, a number of valuable and disparate thoughts came up in the dialogue. I am presenting them as such without forcing a theme:
� Can we live without wanting more than what we need, and at the same time not endure less than what we need?
� Leadership is about thinking for yourself, others and the common goal � all at the same time.
� If you recognize someone as a leader it means you too have the same leadership qualities (whether you are aware of it or not). This is to say that every person already has within him the qualities that he admires in others, because the admiration is possible only if the person has a clear idea, a clear distinction of those qualities. So if you want to be a great leader, try to look within. You may already be one!
� We usually give the title, �celebrity� only to the rich and famous. What if we could look at every person in our life as a celebrity?
� With the right frame of mind, my Gita could be happening in every conversation I am involved in.
� If I really want to teach, explain or simply share the essence to Gita to anyone, the best way to do it is to live it. I have to be a �Walking Gita�.
� Don�t take life too seriously, you are never going to make out of it alive.
� Upanishad is a combination of three words: upa, ni, and sad. Upa means near; ni means below and determination, and sad means, to sit down. Thus the simple meaning of Upanishad is "near below sitting".
The indicative meaning is that a student, having developed sufficiently good qualities of heart and mind, with burning desire for knowledge, approaches a teacher; sits at his feet, tunes his mind to the teachings given by the master; and tries his best to absorb and practice the teachings. In short, the Upanishads contain that knowledge which can be gained be a seeker of Truth when he is sitting at the feet of his master.
Here is a soundbite on Upanishad: �To understand you have to undersit�.
� Doing what you like is freedom, liking what you do is happiness.
� Either in thought or in action, one cannot force balance. It has to happen by a combination of control and letting go. Wisdom lies in knowing when to control and when to let go.
� For great ideas, there is no before-thought � there is only after thought. That is, original ideas that come from fresh thinking cannot be conceived from thoughts that are already present in the memory, they have to come from a completely open mind earnestly enquiring into the issue at hand.
The same applies for any task that one is trying to master. No matter how much we already know about how to do something, at the time of actually doing it, it is best not to bring our knowledge from the past (from our memory). If we do, then it becomes a hindrance instead of helping us. No matter how good, the knowledge from the past cannot have the few critical data that are specific to the current context � and they are the only ones that matter when one is about to do a task. Hence it is best to have a fully open mind and allow ourselves to flow in the moment.
� Churchill once said, �Once in a while people stumble upon a truth, and they manage to get up and walk away.�
Until next week, reflect on the thought, �What if I already am what I wish to be?�
Posted by Ragu at July 13, 2005 11:39 AM
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