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July 05, 2005
Svabhava and Svadharma, Thoughts and Thinking
This week’s session started with inquiring into the meaning of Dharma. Many definitions came up: Dharma is derived from the root Dhr - to hold. It is that which holds an entity together. That is, Dharma is that which gives integrity to an entity and holds the core identity, form and function of that entity. Dharma is also defined as righteousness and duty. To do one’s dharma is to be righteous, to do one’s dharma is to do one’s duty. At this point, we wondered whether Dharma, in the context of a person, is the nature of that person. While...Posted by Ragu at 03:18 PM | Comments (161) | TrackBack
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...Posted by Ragu at 11:39 AM | Comments (224) | TrackBack
July 19, 2005
B – A – L – A – N – C - E
Srini said that he just won a significant contract and was struggling to handle the excitement. He had to repeat to himself ‘samatvam, samatvam, samatvam’ (equanimity). Seema asked what would happen to the joy of excitement if one tries to control it. Shouldn’t we let ourselves experience the spontaneous surge of joy? I mentioned that psychologists talk about a behavior called ‘delayed reward’, which is “forgoing a more immediate, less preferred outcome so as to attain a more preferred outcome at a future time” Anyone who practices delayed reward exhibits greater self-control - says an article in the Journal of...Posted by Ragu at 11:50 AM | Comments (10) | TrackBack