Facebook updates

I have started capturing interesting quotes, book excerpts, book reviews, links etc. on my Facebook wall.

They are public. So, feel free to check them out. You may find some interesting.

My Facebook profile is at - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002376932841

You may just need a FB account. It's good to have one anyway!

Cheers!

PS: 03/23/17:  I quit Facebook for good almost an year ago. Good riddance. It's passé and does not interest me anymore. Putting the time saved to better use!

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Angry Mind

"There was a monkey, restless by his own nature, as all monkeys are. As if that were not enough someone made him drink freely of wine, so that he became still more restless. Then a scorpion stung him. When a man is stung by a scorpion, he jumps about for a whole day; so the poor monkey found his condition worse than ever. To complete his misery a demon entered into him. What language can describe the uncontrollable restlessness of that monkey? The human mind is like that monkey." - Swami Vivekananda, Raja-Yoga

If the above described monkey represents human mind, this AK-47 wielding chimp in the video represents an "angry mind"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhxqIITtTtU

Gun is the anger. AK-47 is probably rage!

Look at the soldiers. Initially, they are having fun with gun wielding monkey and its antics. So do humans too. Feels good to be angry for a while. Keeps us busy.

Then watch what happens. Chimp trains the gun at the soldiers and they are scared to death.

As the acid corrodes the container it is in, the angry mind destroys the person who harbors the anger!

Better not give the gun (i.e anger) to our monkey minds and then regret when it trains it against us!

Prejudice

Prejudice

For those who do not think, it is best at least to rearrange their prejudices once in a while. ~Luther Burbank

A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices. -William James

So.... the prejudiced mind is like the Titanic ship. Prejudiced thinking is merely rearranging the chairs on the deck of Titanic while ignoring the big iceberg of reality starting right in your face. No wonder then that the prejudiced mind is likely to go down in a very royal way!!! Wow!!!the saying 'rearranging the chairs on the deck of titanic' makes altogether a different sense in the light of above two quotes! :) :)

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Forgiveness

Read something on these lines - "Hating somebody is like letting them live in your mind rent free."

True. When we hate or have any sort of negative sentiments against somebody, we think more about them than those who we like and who like us. Ironic. Right?

So we need to evict people from our minds for good. Way is forgiveness. The quote says rent free. But, who wants any rent? I want my mind for myself.

It is no wonder that more we hate others, more people occupy our mind and we become destitute without a home for ourselves. Kingdom of heaven is within us - said Christ. With hatred, we have let others squat in our minds and we have made ourselves homeless. Sad, indeed. We are bankrupt because of hatred.

Forgiveness is the solution. Forgive and forget and move on. Every time you forgive someone, you are forgiving yourself. Many times, forgiving ourselves is the hardest for whatever reasons. No wonder that St. Francis of Assisi said - it is in forgiving that we are forgiven. How true!

Forgive and rejoice.

Somebody told - I forgive myself for not forgiving others. Funny. But, missing the point. There is nothing like forgiving ourselves. When we forgive others, we are forgiving ourselves. Because - you and I are not we but ONE!

Cheers to forgiveness!

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Anger

Over the month of July, collected interesting quotes about anger from different books.

Anger is a very powerful form of energy if it is transformed and put to good use. It is very debilitating as an emotion.

July 26

“‘Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to the dark side.’”

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

July 25

Anger with God was a tired and useless emotion, anger with God was so terrestrial and neutering.

The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris

July 24

Anger, like other emotions, is a judgment. When you get angry, you’re judging other people (“You treated me badly”) and situations (“This just doesn’t suit”). Anger is a statement — your statement — about right and wrong. The more you judge the world, the more likely you’ll be angry — about something.

Anger Management For Dummies by W. Doyle Gentry

July 23

Anger stems from irrational beliefs about others, and anxiety stems from irrational beliefs about yourself.

The Brain Mechanic by Spencer Lord

July 22

“I read somewhere that anger is the teacher…forgiveness the lesson.”

The Recipe Club: A Tale of Food and Friendship by Andrea Israel, Nancy Garfinkel

July 21

“Whenever you don’t know what you’re feeling, you reach for anger.”

The Myth of You and Me: A Novel by Leah Stewart

July 20

Someone once told me that sarcasm is the safe alternative to expressing anger.

Degree of Guilt by Richard North Patterson

July 19

If we carry anger inside of us, it can slowly eat our souls away.

Chronically Happy by Lori Hartwell

July 18

Anger is not humanizing. It’s a rehearsal for the performance that never arrives.

Unless: A Novel (P.S.) by Carol Shields

July 17

Nothing wrong with repressed anger as long as it stays repressed.

Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie

July 16

Avoid the three toxic A’s: authoritarianism, anger, and aloofness.

The Soul of Leadership: Unlocking Your Potential for Greatness by Deepak Chopra

July 15

Some sixteen hundred years ago Saint Augustine wrote: “Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are Anger and Courage. Anger that things are the way they are. Courage to make them the way they ought to be.”

The Ten Commandments for Business Failure by Donald R. Keough

July 14

Take action to derail the anger sequence. With rational thinking and positive self-talk, we can derail the anger sequence before it derails us. We can stop resentment cold.

Of Course You're Angry Second Edition by Gayle Rosellini, Mark Worden

July 13

Anger is not a primary emotion. It is always caused by something else. Just beneath the surface of the anger, you will always find great sadness, profound fear, or deep disappointment.

One Soul, One Love, One Heart: The Sacred Path to Healing All Relationships by John E. Welshons

July 12

The psychology of anger is that you wanted something, and somebody prevented you from getting it. Somebody came as a block, as an obstacle. Your whole energy was going to get something and somebody blocked the energy. You could not get what you wanted. Now this frustrated energy becomes anger – anger against the person who has destroyed the possibility of fulfilling your desire.

Emotions: Freedom from Anger, Jealousy & Fear by Osho, Osho International Foundation

July 11

Control is a poor substitute for awareness, a very poor substitute, it doesn’t help much. If you are aware, you need not control anger, in awareness, anger never arises. They cannot exist together.

Awareness: The Key to Living in Balance by Osho

July 10

“You must be willing to suffer the anger of the opponent, and yet not return anger. You must not become bitter. No matter how emotional your opponents are, you must be calm.”

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Clayborne Carson

July 9

I’ve learned that I must find positive outlets for anger or it will destroy me. I have to try to find a way to channel that anger to the positive, and the highest positive is forgiveness.

The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier

July 8

Guilt is a common cause of depression because guilt is a form of pent-up anger. Guilt is anger toward yourself.

Happiness Is a Choice: The Symptoms, Causes, and Cures of Depression by Dr. Paul Meier, Frank M.D. Minirth

July 7

Anger may be expressed outwardly as rage, or turned inward and be experienced as depression. But underneath all anger is fear.

Letting Go With Love: The Grieving Process by Nancy O'Connor

July 6

Wisdom was knowing what to do. Skill was the ability to do it. Virtue was doing it. When wisdom didn’t subdue anger, anger destroyed everything.

Dying For Revenge by Eric Jerome Dickey

July 5, 2011

Anger cannot be overcome by anger. If a person shows anger to you, and you show anger in return, the result is a disaster. In contrast, if you control your anger and show its opposite—love, compassion, tolerance, and patience—then not only will you remain in peace, but the anger of others also will gradually diminish. No one can argue with the fact that in the presence of anger, peace is impossible. Only through kindness and love can peace of mind be achieved.

How to Expand Love by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Jeffrey, Ph.D. Hopkins

July 4, 2011

If a man keeps dwelling on sense-objects, attachment to them arises; from attachment, desire flares up; from desire, anger is born; from anger, confusion follows; from confusion, weakness of memory; weak memory—weak understanding; weak understanding — ruin.

Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation by Stephen Mitchell

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Listen...Silent

To listen well, pay full attention to what the other person is saying.

When the letters in the word 'listen' are interchanged, we get 'silent'.

Silence is what we need if we want to listen well to other people.

Many times when the other person starts talking, we stop listening and start formulating our response. It's too early to formulate a response before listening fully. Waste of time and energy and disrespect for the other party.

Listen to understand. Reflect. Understand. Clarify. Confirm. Then respond. If we follow this process,then we are more likely to do justice to the person we are listening to.

Sometimes response is not needed at all. The other person just wants someone to listen to. As most of us have experienced, the very fact of being able to find someone who is willing to listen to us and listens without any prejudice proves to be very beneficial. When we explain our thoughts to someone else, many times we ourselves become clearer about them. Solutions emerge on their own. All we needed was someone who was willing to listen.

Listen not merely hear. Observe not merely see. Communicate not merely speak.

WAIT - Why Am I Talking? Always remember this FLA before you speak.

Cheers!

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Laughter is the best medicine

Laughter is the best medicine.

Research has proven that laughing relaxes us and helps reduce the stress.

One, who laughs longer, lasts longer.

I was thinking something else about laughter.

Ajahn Brahm is a Buddhist monk. Originally British. Now settled in Australia.

He has a written a best selling book – “Who ordered this truckload of dung?”

He made an interesting reference to laughter in his book.

The most important medicine that God wants us to take is the “pill of wisdom”.

God always has a ‘pill of wisdom’ ready to give it to us. We are not ready most of the time.

When we laugh, it becomes easy for the Lord to toss in a pill or two of wisdom.

Sometimes we are so stubborn that we give God no opportunity at all to give us his pill of wisdom. When we act like that, God has no other way left than to use that another way of delivering the medicine.

When parents have to make their young children take some bitter medication, they try to coax them in a variety of ways. When everything fails, dad just clips the nostrils and automatically the child opens the mouth. Mom pours the potion and the business finished. What all the pampering did not accomplish, one simple act of closing the nose got the work done.

God has to do something similar to holding the nose to get us take our pill. When somebody closes and holds our nose, it does not feel good. In fact, it is very uncomfortable.

When we do not learn to live properly in easy ways, God has to close and hold our nose that we open our mouths so that he can give us the pill of wisdom.

That’s what the suffering is. When we do not learn the easy way, it has to be come hard. Smart people learn at the very first instance of pain. They suffer little. Some obstinate people take longer.

Smartest people are always laughing at everything around them and they are the easiest for God to deliver his pill of wisdom.

Laughing all the time about everything means we accept the world and life as it is and do not fret about not getting our way all the time. When we start accepting the life as it is, a lot of opportunities open up to grow up and grow wiser.

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Joblessness...

"Joblessness is not uselessness. Uselessness is not meaninglessness."

If we let our jobs / careers determine our identity completely, then our lives may become meaningless when become jobless and feel useless.

Jobs have ceased being full-time and permanent for a long time. Everyone is more or less  a freelancer these days. Go to work in the morning, do your job and come back in the evening after collecting that day's pay. You do not know when your job is gone for whatever reasons.

For whatever reasons, there is so much   change in the business environment that hiring and firing is done very rapidly. Many times it does not make much sense at all. That makes it even more important to ensure that we do not let our jobs determine our identity.

Sometimes when we do not have a job and do not have skills for the jobs that are available, it is natural to feel useless. That's what is the reality at that time. Once you had acquired some good skills, they served you well and now those skills are not useful anymore. That does not make your life meaningless. As you had learnt the skills in the past, you can learn new skills and get a new career.

A bend in the road is not the END in the road.

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Opinions are like....

Opinions are like a$$****. Everybody has one.

We have all heard it. Used it.

Anything new?

Yes. What can be done to better this hard-hitting quote?

How about a modified version of the quote?

"Opinions should be like armpits. Everybody should have a couple of them."

Wonderful. I thought.

Who came up with this one? Very creative.

Beyond the sheer artistry of words, there is plenty of wisdom if we care to look deep into the modified version of the quote.

What makes one so obnoxious? IMO, way too much attachment to his or her opinions. I have mine. I can not see any other way. So do you. My way or your way or highway. No wonder people will, very gladly, tell such a person to go and jump off a cliff.

So, we can not avoid having one dominant opinion. But, how about a few fallback ones too? You know just in case. Stand-by, extras, spare ones..

Colin Powell said - "do not have your ego  attached your position because when your position falls your ego falls with it."

Opinions are meant to be shot down. Sure, fly your opinions but be ready to jump out of it if somebody else's pure logic shoots it down. Smart pilots let go of their planes and take the parachute, rather than meeting a fiery grave.

My apologies if the quote is somewhat offensive. If not for wisdom in it, I would not have found it reasonable to use it. So, sometimes we have to look at many unusual things for wisdom.

A$$**** is not totally out of respectable usage. Stanford business school's reputed professor Bob Sutton wrote a book titled 'No A$$**** rule' a few years back. That book is a very good book. That book looks at a$$**** at workplaces and the tremendous damage they cause. Great read. I  wrote about it a few years back. You can read that post at - http://maheshuh.blogspot.com/2007/04/no-asshole-rule-building-civilized.html.

Another creative way to look at the modified version of the quote (i.e. armpit version) is to start thinking about deodorants.

Thank you, you say. I shall stop.

But, armpits, Bo, deodorant and the difference the deodorant makes in civilized world will give you some ideas about tempering the stench of our pet opinions with some sort of a deodorant called open-mindedness.

Mind is like parachute. Works best when open.

Cheers. Hope our opinions smell fresh.

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You are alive only because....

Whenever someone dies, people saying something on the lines of 'God calls those people to his abode whom he loves most.' Makes the bereaved family feel better.

This is especially repeated when someone meets with untimely death.

Recently somebody on LinkedIn.com posted an interesting twist to this saying.

It went something like this.

"God calls those he loves most to his abode. So, if you are alive, it means there is someone on this earth who loves you more than the God loves you."

We are all alive because there are people on this earth who love us more than God. Hmmmm....

Interesting perspective. Made me think. Still thinking.

Cheers!

Btw: If you have account on linkedin.com, you can go and search for it. It generated quite a discussion there.

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Mind's restlessness

Mind is like a monkey which has had a lot to drink. After that it's been bitten by a scorpion. On top of that some demon has possessed it.

Can there be anything more chaotic than the above monkey? Likely not. By it's very nature, monkey is always on the move. Additionally if you introduce 3 extras, it will become so restless that no monkey tamer can handle it.

Several sages have used above simile to convey the restless of our minds. At the best, it is a decent monkey which has been trained quite well. At the worst, you have monkey on extras.

Another beautiful simile is - mind is like a restless trunk of an elephant. Always reaching out to this or that. Grab this here. Grab that  there. Once whatever is grabbed, put it in it's large mouth and that's the end of it.

Elephant trainers have a simple technique to manage the restless trunk of the elephant. Before they take the elephant in a procession through streets, they simply give bamboo stick and ask the elephant to hold it in its trunk. Since the elephant has been trained to obey its trainer, it does what's asked of it and then the procession starts. Since the elephant knows that it has to hold the bamboo stick in it's trunk, it does not move it's trunk here and there. Thus the stores along the street, which stock goodies like fruits and nuts that elephants like very much, are spared from the elephant grabbing them for free.

So is our mind. It needs something to grab on to. If it does not get something to grab on to, you know what it does. It will grab a bad movie here, a violent song there, some gossip somewhere else and so on.

So, what do we give to our mind? Hindu teachers from ages have asked us to choose a mantra (holy name or holy word) and repeat it all the time. It does not matter even if you repeat it mechanically. It's going to serve the exact purpose of that bamboo stick and help steady our restless mind.

Of course, elephant's trunk is nothing compared to our mind in terms of restlessness. Mind is not going to repeat 'mantra' as sincerely as a well trained elephant holds on to the bamboo stick. It's going to 'forget' repeating the mantra and we have to consciously bring it back to repeating it. It takes time and lifetime's effort.

Great sages have guaranteed from their personal experience that after a long time, sincere aspirants get to the state called as 'ajaapjapam'. In that state, the person does not repeat the mantra, it repeats by itself and delivers tremendous benefits in turn. It's a goal worth shooting for.

Now choose a mantra and start repeating. It's good for you and more importantly good for everyone around you. One less monkey to worry about. Just kidding! :)

Cheers to a calm and quality mind!

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Mindfulness & Surfing

Mindfulness - Buddhist way of dispassionately observing the mind using the mind. There is plenty of information about the process and practice in books and elsewhere.

Recently while reading a book, one point the author made caught my mind because nobody else had helped show mindfulness in that way.

Paraphrasing the author - mind is like a rough sea. Topsy and turvy. Raises many waves. It is long before we can quiet the mind. In the mean time, we have two choices. One is, we can act as victims and get thrown up and down by those waves of the mind. Other is to learn to ride them. As surfers like to do, we can learn to ride the mind waves. In this way, we will welcome the ups and downs and enjoy them rather than being tossed around by them mercilessly.

Made sense.

Of course, even to get to that state of riding those mind waves, it takes a lot of time and practice. But, seems worth it.

Mind is very funny. Start consciously observing what the mind does. What do you see? It acts like a small child caught in the act of doing something naughty. It is embarrassed and stops what it was doing.

Just try it. As soon as you say to the mind 'I am going to simply watch you', it will stop its assembly line. Junk production stops for a while.

It's a different matter that you lose your intent to observe after some time. Mind is a tough cookie. It's hard to nail it. It will come up with some other ploy.

That's one of the reasons Buddhists ask you to focus on breath and ancient Hindu teachers asked aspirants to choose a holy name or phrase (mantram) and repeat it every second you find a chance. That is to give mind something to hold on to. If something is not given to the mind, it will find and grab what it likes. In many cases, what mind likes is not what we want. So, we can proactively give it something good to hold on to.

Cheers!

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Einstien and Vedanta

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In a letter to a friend who had lost a young son, Albert Einstein described the experience of self as somehow separate from the rest of reality as an “optical delusion” of consciousness, a delusion he likened to a prison. He said that to break free of this prison would require “widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
======

Above excerpt is from Pictures of the Mind: What the New Neuroscience Tells Us About Who We Are by Miriam Boleyn-Fitzgerald

It is very impressive to see how Einstein's views closely match with the views expressed in our scriptures.

I have made specific words bold to highlight their relevance.

Reality ( as we see it) is an 'optical delusion'. This is really classic. 100% match.

Our mind  which is part of the overarching consciousness (i.e. Brahman) manufactures the "reality" as it finds appropriate.

That's the reason why Vedantists say life is only as real as a dream. We experience dreams as real as we experience life. It's just that dream lasts only for few minutes or hours where as the dream known as life goes over a few years to start off again.

It's no surprising to see this coming from some like Einstein who was all for coming up with an unified theory. He had unified so many disparate concepts into such a nice and tightly knit theory of relativity. Only if he had few more years, may be he would have included 'consciousness' also part of his unified theory.

As long as we do not see the unity in everything, we are under the spell of very strong optical illusion.

Knowing that and trying to get out of that is fun. Even if it takes multiple lives to get out of that, it is worthwhile.

As there is tremendous pleasure in solving puzzles and riddles, same with solving this complex equation which when solved shows us how this optical illusion results.

The book also a great read. It documents experiments run of some Tibetan masters in the hope of discovering the benefits of mindfulness.

Cheers!

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Desire to Destiny

"You are what your deep driving desire is.

As your deep driving desire is, so is your will.

As your will is, so is your deed.

As your deed is, so is your destiny."

Above verse is from the famous 'Brihadarnyaka' upanishad.

If we can desire anything strongly enough, we can get it.

That may be the reason they say " God does not give us dreams without giving adequate potential to achieve them."

If all this is true, why we find it hard to achieve some things? Others we seem to able to achieve very easily.

Einstein (I believe) famously said "Man can get all that he wants. Can he really will what he wants?"

"Willing to want" - this ties back nicely to the verse from 'Brihadarnyaka' upanishad. "Willing to want" is to DESIRE strongly.

Sri Eknath Easwaran (www.easwaran.org) uses a very simple but powerful metaphor to illustrate the power of desires.

When solar rays are passed through a magnifying glass which can make them converge on a single point, it generates so much heat to burn a piece of paper.

But without such a lens, scattered sun rays may nicely warm us up, but can not set paper on fire.

Our desires, all though very powerful, are very scattered. We are into getting a few pieces of pleasure here, another  few pieces of false-security elsewhere and so on. We have not managed to have all our desires converge to produce the effect we want.

Desire is neither good nor it is bad. It is another form of power. How we manage to transform it is upto us. Electricity can be used to light up a house or burn down the same house.

Similarly our desires can make us or mar us.

Desire is the vital fuel. There is only so much of it. Granted, we all have some extra fuel to let us experiment and experience things and know  for ourselves that they all do not really satisfy us. But, it is expected that we learn from such experiences and their limitations. If we do not but keep repeating same acts time and again, hoping for different results, we are simply wasting away our vital energy. Then when we really need all the fuel to undertake a long journey, we are faced with an empty tank. Let's not get into that situation.

There is another very important aspect to desires. Look at anything you really like. Or even better, look at those things which you used to like very much once and now do not find it  much appealing any more. What happened? Did anything change with object of your original liking? Likely not. Then what? It's your desire. The desire for that object simply vanished. Along with it took away the fascination for that object. Ask people who have quit tobacco or alcohol for good and ask them what changed. They are not able to explain it this way but are like to say 'something gave up.' That something is DESIRE. It's all in the desire. Tobacco is same as it used to be. Alcohol is what it has always been. You had desire for them. And that gave special fascination to those objects.

Success is not a result of some passive combustion. But, it is purposely setting ourselves on fire.

Desire is the fuel. Everything else including our destiny depends on it.

So, the question is - do we consolidate all our desires or let them waste away of thousands of useless pursuits?

Gandhi was known for his witty remarks.

Some reporter asked him "don't you have any ambition?"

Gandhi said "I am the most ambitious person. I would like to reduce myself to ZERO."

Reducing himself to zero was his desire. What he meant to totally remove his EGO. Worthy goal requiring every ounce of desire.

Cheers!

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Honeybee vs. Housefly

What do we want be like?

A honeybee or a housefly?

Honeybee always spots good things. It finds a nice flower full of nectar. It extracts the nectar without hurting the flower. In the process, gathers some pollen and thus helps in pollination. After this delicate work, it gets busy and creates fabulous honey for us.

Housefly, on the other hand, always focuses on what is disgusting, dirty and full of germs. Lousier and dirtier the stuff, better it is for the housefly. There is some real yucky, grimy stuff, house fly is there to squat on it. Grab all the dirt, germs, bacteria etc. and ready to go elsewhere and contaminate that using all the germs it picked up from the previous rotten place. Deadly diseases like cholera are spread mainly by houseflies.

Honeybee is attracted to what is good. Housefly is attracted to what is bad and rotten.

Being like honeybee means we focus on what's good in others.

Being like a housefly means we focus on what's bad in others.

Nobody is perfect.

Everyone has a good measure of good and bad.

But, we can make a deliberate decision to focus on any and every good in others. That way we can probably get some honey out of anybody.

Of course, we can become pessimists. That's akin to being a house fly. We focus on the negatives. That will frustrate us. We will take that frustration on somebody else. That will pollute the environment.

Honeybee pollinates where as housefly pollutes.

I do not want the stigma attached to the housefly.

Choose to be a honeybee!

Cheers!

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One

You and I are not WE. But, ONE.

Oh, yeah! we all know that at the core we are all one. So, we should treat each other as  we treat ourselves. When we are nice to others, we are much nicer to ourselves. We should try to see ourselves in others and others in ourselves.

Sounds very good. But, when that annoying person says something or does something, why does our blood boil? More importantly how can we really understand that we are all one at the very core?

Vedanta has  excellent metaphors to show the unity of all living beings.

Moon reflects in all water bodies.

Moon reflects in a beautiful swimming pool in a royal bungalow in the best part of the town.

Same moon also reflects in the dirty sewage pool in a slum.

Is there any difference in the moon?

Is the moon in the beautiful swimming pool any different than the moon in the dirty pool in the slum?

Of course, we are going to enjoy looking at the moon's reflection in the beautiful pool than it the dirty pool in the slum. That's all is external and is bound to change. In one stroke of luck, the beautiful house may burn down and take the pool with it. At the same time, the slum may be transformed into a beautiful location. That's possible.

That's what is all about so called good and bad people. When we see the reflection of the moon in a nice swimming pool, we feel happy and call that reflection a good one. When we see the reflection of the same moon in a dirty pool in a slum, we call that as the bad person.

Here moon refers to 'atman' which is one and the same. Pool is the body in which it is reflected.

So, focus on the moon and not on where it is being reflected.

Cheers!

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Book...open...closed...and judgement

"Do not judge a book by its cover."

So goes the saying.

Wisdom is - we should defer our judgement long enough so that we do not misjudge a  person or a thing. Read the book and then may be develop a judgement. Many times appearances can be very deceiving.

We are also worried about people judging us. We know that everybody judges a book by its cover. So, we try to make the cover as attractive as possible. We dress up very well. We groom ourselves well. We fret about our bodies and its lack of perfection and so on and on. All because we are not sure if our cover is good enough.

Of course, there is nothing wrong about making ourselves look and feel at our best. Regardless of subjective opinion on anyone's bodily appearance, anybody can look at their best and also feel at their best with little investment of time and effort. Keep yourself as healthy as possible. Take care of your appearance to level you can afford to. Spend a little time in grooming yourself. Voila! you look and feel good. No doubt it all. Nothing wrong in it.

But, still we will be worried about people judging us by over cover (i.e. our appearance and mannerisms).

So, let's think about a minute. If there is a book lying open on a table, what do you think a person who walks to the table going to do? Is he going to judge the book by its appearance? Or do you think the person is most likely to pick it up, glance through it and may be even scan through a page or two?

Which is more likely? I bet the person is going to pick up the book and glance through it.

I think nobody is going to judge an open book as they judge a closed book. Closed book has the cover that draws attention. That attention is going to judge the book by its cover.

On the other hand, open book does not have that liability of cover. It's open. At worst, it gets neutral judgement or at best it gets judged little later with little deliberate effort and thought.

So, how about if we start making ourselves like open books?

Does that reduce our worry about being judged based on our cover?

May be to some extent.

Living a life that is akin to an open book is the best policy. That way people can read you and judge you for what's in the book than its cover.

Living an open life does not mean you have to wash all your dirty laundry in the public or  have to fess upto all your itty bitty details. Most of them are inconsequential or have a very limited shelf life.

Bigger thing is being you own self all the time. Not acting like someone that you really are not. Being totally comfortable in your own skin.

Ask yourself. How often you identify phonies? Very often. As soon as you find somebody acting artificially, you can easily find that out. At least most of the time. That is very repulsive.

So, just be thyself and enjoy. Let people read you if they are interested. If not, they can judge you by cover or inner cover or dust jacket or whatever. Why do we care?

Cheers!

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Dream, Life. Real, Unreal.

"Dream is as real as life while we are asleep. Life is as unreal as dream while we are awake."

First sentence of the quote did sink in pretty easily.

Second part, pretty hard.

However, once you get the grips on the first part of the quote, it starts making sense.

Don't dreams seem really REAL?

Don't we wake up totally freaked out from nightmares? Don't experiences in  dreams seem real?

But, when we get up after sleeping, we brush all that aside.

How's so-called life different than a dream? Is it that we are unable to distinguish one dream from the other? Vedantists says so because we are clouded. According to them, what we see and feel as reality is dream as well.

That's why may be they say there are 3 normal states - awake, sleeping and dreaming. They have been very right about differentiating dreaming and sleeping because actual sleep is dreamless sleep. That's when we really relax.

Beyond these normal three states, they called fourth state as 'turiya'. Literally means fourth. 'Turiya' is super consciousness state. Samadhi or whatever.

Even if we leave all this aside, we can all appreciate a good nights sleep.

Simple measure to get a good nights sleep. Sleep little less than you really feel like. This helps getting into deep sleep as soon as you hit the bed Get enough exercise. Relax. Eat early in the evening. Do not stimulate senses overly. Do not expose yourself to excitable media. Go to sleep thinking about whatever makes you happy. Preferably reciting the name of your favorite deity. But, these days many are averse to simple things like repeating 'rama nama'. So, imagining yourself to be enjoying the blue waters of caribbean is an alternative.

Night after night when we get good sleep, especially long hours of dreamless sleep, you will see the difference in your overall health immediately. You will discover new insights, productivity in whatever you do increases by many folds. You will just be much happier. Just the opposite of how you feel after crappy night's sleep.

Good luck to sleep well and dreaming less.

Cheers!

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Using a thorn to remove a thorn

If we are walking in a forest and if a thorn gets into our foot, how are we to remove it?

There is no medical aid near by. We do not have any devices.

One way may be to use another thorn and use that to remove the first thorn which has gotten into our foot Using another thorn to remove the original thorn may not be the most effective or easy way. But, with some patience and perseverance, it may work. One thing to avoid is to make sure that while using a thorn to remove a thorn, we do not get both inside the foot. That would be worse than having one in the first place.

This analogy is used in Vedanta a lot.

Ignorance is like the first thorn which has got into our foot and is bothering us. Spiritual knowledge, in the form of books, lectures, teachers etc. is like the other thorn we can use to remove the original thorn of ignorance. After the original thorn is removed, we do not have any use of either of the thorns. We can discard both of them. Actually, we must discard both of them. We should keep neither ignorance or knowledge once we have used one to remove the other.

So, basically, knowledge is just an instrument to remove ignorance. Once ignorance is removed, we need to let go of both, if we want to make progress.

Knowledge, even if it is purely bookish, can be very intoxicating. There  comes some sense of pride and confidence as you know more and more about things. If you have time and willingness, there is no problem in becoming bookishly smart. There lies the danger that sometimes we may get stuck in that zone. We may forget that our original idea was to acquire knowledge so that we can get rid of ignorance.

A certain modern philosopher had a very nice analogy. We are familiar with pole-vault sport. The athlete uses a long pole to get the needed energy to push him over the hurdle. But, he knows very well that in order to safely cross the hurdle, he  has to  skillfully use the pole and more importantly he has to be able to LET GO of the pole at the right time to complete a smooth trajectory into the other side. When the pole-vaulters do this well, they scale great heights, set new records and go like an elegant projectile.

Knowledge is like the pole we can use to overcome the ignorance. As the successful pole vaulter gives up the pole at the right time and right place, we need to dump this so called knowledge as we start feeling the real knowledge inside us.

There are several similar metaphors that Vedanta uses to make sure that we do not get stuck in the fancies of intellectual knowledge.

Intellectual knowledge fills you up but does not satisfy you. Like many fancy foods and drinks.

Cheers!

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Donkey's wisdom

Once there was a donkey.

It served its master with  loyalty and dedication. Like many masters, he did not appreciate the services of his donkey.

Donkey grew old and its master got more and more contemptuous of his donkey.

One day the donkey fell into an empty well.

Luckily it was not hurt but it could not come out. There was no way at all.

So, it started howling  the way donkeys do - very distinct.

That bothered its master who was enjoying his siesta.

He came to the well and took a look.

It was a useless well. No water there. He was planning on filling it up and use the created space to grow something. He had not had time to do it.

Now he became motivated. He could get rid of the wailing useless old donkey and also fill up the well. At least he thought he could.

So, he rounded up his family, friends and started to dump  dirt, mud, gravel into the well.

Donkey got scared. It became obvious that its master was not interested in rescuing it but he was going to bury it alive.

As the mud and dirt poured down and fell over the donkey, it shook up its body, got the dirt off its back, stomped on it.

It continued the process with every load of dirt that was dumped on it. Shake, shake, thump, thump, thump and repeat.

What was the outcome?

With every load of dirt, the donkey moved up - may be a couple of inches at a time. Slowly but steadily.

It's stupid master and his clan was so busy in getting the dirt and filling up the well that they failed to notice the smartness and initiative of the donkey.

After doing this smart thing over a long time, the donkey was just a couple of feet from the top. It was very tired but it pumped up its any remaining energy into its legs and gave one strong leap and with that it was out of the well.

Before leaving its cruel master for good, it dashed to him, bit him the ass and ran away. Hopefully to a better place.

Moral of the story. There are two morals actually.

Life will dump dirt on you without fail. That's the nature of life. With every boatload of dirt that is dumped on us, we all can shake it, stomp on it and raise ourselves up. This kind of raising ourselves up makes us feel good about ourselves.

Practical example  - somebody is rude to you? Go extra mile and be specifically nice to him or her. Somebody slandered you? Do not dignify such thing with your rebuttal. If it is not true, it is not going to become any more truer with your explanation. Just shake it up, use that dirt to move up.

Other moral - if you try to cover your ass, it comes back to bite you later. :)

Cheers!

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Effective Cleaning

So, suppose that you got to clean a room. Vacuum it, dust it, mop it and what not.

You also have all the needed equipments - vacuum cleaners  (best quality), mops etc.

What do you think is the most effective way to complete the task?

How about if you empty the room first? Say, remove furniture, pictures etc.

Does it not become easier once you have enough working space? You can move the vacuum cleaner with ease, reach all corners, dust off easily. Overall, it seem to become easier.

I think most of us clean our places like this. We move the  stuff temporarily to other rooms, clean one room and then bring it all back.

Makes sense?

How about cleaning the mind?

Like the powerful vacuum cleaner, we have the most powerful tool - that is MEDITATION.

But, our mind is cluttered. So much junk is accumulated that there is hardly any working space at all. To make things worse, we can not easily chuck out the junk from our minds the way we can possibly move stuff out of our rooms when we need to clean.

So, we have a challenge.

We have a heavily cluttered mind full of junk - thoughts, feelings, opinions, prejudices etc. We have the equipment to clean but need to make some space.

Fortunately, meditation is more versatile than any vacuum cleaner. It really does not demand much space at all. Just a little space to enter into our mind and start cleaning. All meditation asks is to give our best for at least a few minutes a day. Say 30 minutes of dedication.

But, there is one thing to keep in mind. As said before, we can not easily chuck out junk from our minds. Our tool - meditation- is versatile that it not only cleans up the mind but also destroys all that junk slowly but surely. So, we do not have to worry about it any more. Takes several years to clean up the junk accumulated over our lifetime. Slowly but surely.

In the mean time, can we do ourselves a favor? That is to limit the new junk that we bring in. If the rate at which  junk enters exceeds the rate at which our trusted tool - meditation - is working, it is not going to make much difference.

When we are practicing spiritual disciplines with all the sincerity, we need to do everything to limit external inputs especially tantalizing, sensationalizing inputs. We all take in a lot of external stimuli - news, movies, radio etc. Start reducing the amount of sensory inputs you take and see how better you start feeling.

Even if you want to take  in sensory inputs, do it with discrimination and purpose. Let the radio not blare music or news unless you are able to pay full attention to listen to it. Same thing with news, movies etc.

As you reduce new mental clutter, meditation continues to slog relentlessly at cleaning up your old clutter. Accumulated over not just few years but few life times. So, its a process of slow but steady transformation.

It does not take years, even months to start seeing the differences. After limiting the amount of TV you watch, amount of time you spend on the Internet or talking to friends and family or doing other mental-clutter-generating activities and steadily practicing meditation and allied disciplines, you will start seeing the calmness and purpose in everything you do very soon.

Cheers!

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Blind spots

Know about blind spots?

Yes, same blind spots that we encounter while driving.

If we don't look over our shoulders while changing lanes, it's possible that we will miss a car or bike which is in our blind spot.

Have you been impacted by one?

Simple technique is to look over in addition to relying on mirrors before changing lanes.

You can also get those tiny mirrors which you glue to one corner of your side mirrors to get better view of the blind spots.

But, nothing is safer than really turning your head to make absolutely sure.

Sometimes motorbikes miss all that and accidents can be fatal.

Anyway, why all this? Coming to the point now.

Do you think we have blind spots in our personalities as well?

Do you think you know everything about yourself?

I doubt. I believe we all know about ourselves the way we would like to know about ourselves.

Some people know themselves much more accurately than others.

Like everything else we see the life (which includes us) the way we would like to see and NOT really the way it is.

So, we have blind spots in our personalities too.

God took care of that.

He continues to give us equivalent of those tiny mirrors that help us see blind spots clearly.

What are they?

So called DIFFICULT people in our lives.

They are there to help us see our own blind spots.

I recently finished reading an excellent book - Path to the soul by Dr. Ashok Bedi.

Got this insight from that book.

When I thought about this and looked back, it made perfect sense.

Difficult people come into our lives to show us what we need to change. Sometimes they create such situations that things become so painful that we have no other way than changing ourselves or situations. That's exactly God's plan.

Since we do not seem to understand God's plan in any easy way, He has to make it little hard for in our lives and make us suffer a bit. He uses so-called-difficult people to help us uncover our own blind spots.

So, let's look at so-called-difficult-people as helpers rather than people to avoid. Of course we can avoid them. But, if we do not see what's in the blind spot, it will only get worse.

Many times I have seen those so-called-difficult-people vanish as soon as we recognize our blind spots and take care of the situation. That's what they were meant to accomplish. Their job is over.

Either you stop seeing them as difficult people or you change the situation such a way that point of they being there does not arise at all. Example - If you change jobs to avoid toxic work place, then you changed the situation.

In any case, it made absolute sense to me.

Dr. Bedi advises us look at such people as our own reflection with some things that we are not able to see ourselves. Like our back which we can not see ourselves.

Learn what those people are trying to teach. Make necessary changes and move on. After that they won't be there or they won't bother you.

Can you put up with difficult people and endure the pain?

I think it depends how smart you are and how much is your pain tolerance.

I see that sometimes it has to become so much painful for people to change. That's how we humans are. We do not look at pain and pleasure the same way. People won Nobel prize applying this principle and started a new field called behavioral finance. People rather do everything to avoid pain but are not willing exert even 10% of that effort to go after what is good for them.

As GK Chesterton said - God's divine hammer has to fall on us and cause some discomfort before we change.

Excellent book by Dr. Bedi. Rare book that combines wisdom of eastern spirituality with modern psychiatry.

Cheers!

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Ajahn Brahm

Recently read a refreshing book by a buddhist monk - Ajahn Brahm.

He is originally from Britain. He trained as a theoretical physicist. Then the calling came and he went to become a buddhist monk.

He is a full-time monk who belongs to very demanding Teravada tradition of Buddhism.

He trained in the forest monasteries of Thailand under Ajahn Chan - revered master.

His book is titled - Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung?: Inspiring Stories for Welcoming Life's Difficulties.

This is a fantastic book.

Full of witty small stories and essays.

You will be laughing or smiling all the time while you are reading this book.

That's when the master Ajahn Brahm keeps throwing in the pills of wisdom into you.

Very refreshing.

Many of his discourses are available on youtube.

They are really very interesting. Watch them when you get time.

I am looking forward to read his other books and watch other videos.

Cheers!

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Disappointed?

Disappointed with somebody?

Read on.

A young man had just married a beautiful girl.

His father-in-law asked him why he married his daughter.

As usual, the young man went on and on......she is so cool. She is so beautiful. I can never find anyone better than her. Usual hype of heady first days of romance.

Experienced and wise father-in-law said - you know young man, after a couple of years, you will start finding flaws in her. Just remember that those flaws are there today too. You are not just able to see them. Always keep in mind that if not for those flaws she would have married someone so much better than you.

That's it.

This is not only true in marital but all sort of relationships.

Your family disappointed you? Yes. Sure, they have flaws. If they did not, they would have had better kids than you.

Your boss pissed you off. Sure. If not, he would have hired a better candidate than you.

Your subordinate under performed. Sure. If not for his flaws, he would have joined a better place at better salary.

It's all in the expectations.

Have no expectations and everything will be just fine.

Easy to preach. Hard to practice. Yes, you bet!

Cheers!

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Thorn, Torch, Pole

Using a thorn to remove a thorn - this is a very famous metaphor often used in the teachings of Indian spirituality.

Suppose you are walking in a forest. A thorn gets into your foot. You do not have any surgical instruments like needles or forceps etc. to remove the thorn.

What can be done?

Find another similar thorn. Use it to remove the thorn in your foot. After that, discard both thorns.

You need a torch in the dark.When there is light, torch is of no use.

Pole vault is a very interesting sport.

The pole vaulter has to let go of the pole to clear the bar. The pole is there to just give the needed force to propel him. Once he get the needed boost, he has to let go of the pole.

Thorn, Torch and Pole are similar to the tools that we can use to acquire spiritual knowledge.

Once we get the necessary knowledge, we get rid of them.

They do not serve any purpose after that.

In fact, keeping tools longs after they have served their purpose can become detrimental to your spiritual aspirations.

Dry intellectuals are those who can not give up boring aspects of arcane philosophy even after it has outlived its purpose.

So use books, teachers, masters to the extent needed just like you use a thorn or a torch or a pole to meet your immediate purpose.

There after it is you, your determination, effort and the divine grace.

Remember to grow up and give up toys. Sometimes the toys that we discover on the spiritual journey can be so alluring that you do not feel like giving them up. That's a danger. What you won't give up voluntarily will be forcefully taken away from you for your own good. That will be painful and result in suffering. Why go through that? Give up and lighten yourself.

Cheers!

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Inner voice

Melodious music playing inside a room.

There are also several people in the room busy talking and doing things.

Typical party.

Can you hear the music and enjoy it in such an environment?

Probably not.

The music is lost in the cacophony of the noise from people, their talk, laughter etc.

This is also happening with inner voice.

It is always talking. Its words are full of wisdom. We just do not seem to hear it all.

In order to listen to inner voice, we have to create proper ambience.

People talk about going on diet to help maintain good body.

Good diet means eating only things that are good for us in temperate quantities.

How about mental diet?

Have you thought about it?

We are constantly consuming through our senses - eye, ears, touch, taste, smell.

In order to start hearing inner voice, we have to start a mental diet.

Allow only those stimuli that is good for you and then you will start hearing the inner voice.

When we expose ourselves indiscriminately to external stimuli, we never allow our mind to slow down.

For a period that works for you, tell yourself that you are not going to watch TV, read news papers, see movies, browse Internet, no phone calls, no texting, no or very limited talking with others.

It's hard. At first you may be able to do it only for few hours or few minutes at the most.

However you will be able to gradually increase this time of retreat from hours to days.

It's extremely hard to go on this kind of mental diet. But, it's the only way to start.

No wonder Buddhist monks go through this kind of retreat. Their retreats are 3-4 years in length. We do not need to go that far.

Benefits will be visible immediately. As you reduce the external stimuli you take in, your body and mind start slowing down, they get much needed rest and recuperate against all the abuses from poor physical and  mental diet. Nervous system relaxes and re energizes.

If you can do this kind of a retreat at least one weekend a month, you will get maximum benefits. You can also go away for a week to some secluded place and do similar thing. Familiar surroundings of home make it difficult. So get out to some nice resort or retreat places.

During the retreat time, it is absolutely fine to read motivating spiritual books, listen to devotional music or soft music.

After you reward yourself with such retreats, become really aware of how you take in external stimuli. Many times our senses are in overdrive without we knowing about it  Become consciously aware about your surroundings.

Take in sensory stimuli. But, take them in deliberately.

If you want to watch TV, watch it for a small amount time with full attention. Do not eat or drink or do something else while watching TV.

Do not listen to mindless radio while driving. This is because when you listen to radio, program shifts from topic to topic or to advertisement or something. It breaks up attention and not good to your safe driving also. Best is not to listen to anything. If you can not, listen to audio book or mellow music.

Do not browse net indiscriminately. Get on the net with purpose. Get off as soon as you are done.

If you are a news junkie, check for news only few times a day. Same with e-mails, text messages, phone messages etc.

Bottom line is to become the master of our time and attention and not let the world jerk us around with its constantly changing priorities.

Once you slow down using all these and additional techniques, there comes that serene quietness in your life and that's when you start hearing your inner voice. This may take years and years but journey itself is rewarding.

Mind that is fast is sick.

Mind that is slow is sound.

Mind that is still is divine.

----by Meher Baba.

Cheers!

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From EGO to GOD

"They are forever free who break away from the ego cage of I, Me and Mine. To be united with the Lord of love. This is the supreme state. Attain to this and move from death to immortality."

This is one of the stanzas from 2nd chapter of Bhagvadgita.

I, Me, Mine - three legs on which EGO rests. Reduce focus on I, Me and Mine and you automatically reduce self-will. As you reduce self-will, you feel lighter and better overall.

EGO - When 'E' from 'EGO' 'GO'es and D (as in Devotion) comes in and you get GOD.

Cheers!

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LTBM - Laughter The Best Medicine

Laughter The Best Medicine.

Is it?

Or is laughter the best way to take the medicine?

What is the most needed medicine?

Wisdom.

It is only when we  open our mouths while heartily laughing God can throw in a pill of wisdom.

If we are always smug faced and do not laugh at all, then the pill can not get in to us.

No wonder laughing relaxes you and helps you forget worries.

Just laugh!

Cheers!

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Life is a gym. Adervesity is the muscle building equipment. BYOE - Bring your own energy.

No pain. No gain.

Does it hurt to work out?

Sure it does. At least in the beginning.

Adversities in life are like that. It sure hurts when they hit us but they make us stronger too.

Anything that does not kill you only makes you stronger.

If you do not last bad times. You won't be there to see good times.

It is always darkest before the dawn. Hang in there. Dawn is about to happen and sun in our life is going to banish all the darkness.

"One of the many fascinating events in nature is the emergence of the Cecropia moth from its cocoon - an event that occurs only with much struggle on the part of the moth to free itself. The story is frequently told of someone who watched the moth go through this struggle. In an effort to help - and not realizing the necessity of the struggle - the viewer snipped the shell of the cocoon. Soon the moth came out with its wings all crimped and shriveled. But as the person watched , the wings remained weak. The moth, which in a few moments would have stretched those wings to fly, was now doomed to crawling out it brief life in frustration of ever being the beautiful creature God created it to be.

What the person in the story did not realize was that the struggle to emerge from the cocoon was an essential part of developing the muscle system of the moth's body and pushing the body fluids into the wings to expand the,. By unwisely seeking to cut  short the moth's struggle, the watcher had actually crippled the moth and doomed its existence.

The adversities of life are much like the cocoon of the Cecropia moth. God uses them to develop the spiritual muscle system of our lives. "

Above is quoted from a decent book - Trusting God even when life hurts by Jerry Bridges.

Cheers!

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Free-will

Do we really have free-will?

If we do and if we can exercise, can we create the reality the way we want?

If we really have free will and convincingly exercise it, why do not things happen the way we want?

What is missing?

"Swami Chinmayanada used the metaphor of a boat in a river. With the engine working at a given rate, the actual speed of the boat will depend upon the current in the river and the direction of the boat. It will obviously travel much more quickly downstream, with the force of the current behind it., than it will trying to battle its way upstream against a powerful flow. The basic engine speed can be compared to "free will" and the current of the river to destiny. Both operate independently but the net effect is determined by their relative strengths."

Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswami of Srigeri says - "Fate is past karma. Free-will is present karma. Both are really one, that is, karma. Though they may differ in the matter of time, there can be no conflict when they are really one.

By exercising your free-will in the past, you brought on the resultant fate. By exercising your free-will in the present, I want you to wipe out your past record if it hurts you or add to it if you find it enjoyable.In any case, whether for acquiring more happiness or for reducing misery, you have to exercise your free-will in the present."

Above are quoted from a great book - Back to the truth. 5000 years of advaita by Dennis Waite. Really fantastic read.

Cheers!

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Knowledge and action

Your knowledge is only as deep as your action.

Knowledge means knowing. Action means doing.

This is especially important on the spiritual path.

For intellectually oriented people, it is very easy to get caught up in the dry intellectually stimulating but often useless details about arcane matters of soul, spirit, reincarnation, heaven, hell  etc.

To drag us deep into the whirlpool of futile intellectual pursuits, there is no dearth of excellent books written by many excellent teachers. Not one lifetime is enough to read even good number of them.

Is it not better to balance reading and acting?

Ramana Maharshi used to warn his disciples this way.

"What's the point seeing your face in several mirrors in the morning to check if you really need a shave? One mirror and one good look at yourself should clearly tell if you must shave or not. After that, your energy is better spent in getting a nice shave rather than going to different mirrors of different size and with different frames to see your same face and to reconfirm that you really need a shave."

Reading several books for pure intellectual fascination, following different gurus, following different paths etc. are not required.

Most of it is common sense any way.

Start spending quiet time by yourself and free of all external stimuli and eternal truth automatically start appearing to you.

It is just that we are all so busy with the mad rat race that we all have become rats and lost our true human nature which is essentially divine.

Of course, if you are knowledge centric, feel free to read a lot. There is absolutely no harm.

However, if you are a serious spiritual aspirant, just know that intellect can not figure that out. The eternal truth can only be experienced when we still our mind. Intellect is only good for dividing everything into good or bad, black or white, sane or insane. It can not understand unity. So, intellect is not the tool to find unity.

Think like a man of action. Act like a man of thought.

You will become a dry intellectual bore if you only read and never take time to contemplate. Contemplation is going right into the depths of consciousness. Reading, listening, watching etc. are only at the surface level. There are no treasures on the surface. Real pearls are found only the depths of the ocean. So, dive deep rather than spending your time on mindless pursuits on the surface level.

There is a very nice saying which goes like this - Data is good. It will keep the mind busy while the heart makes the decision.

Reading books leads to knowledge. Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Corruption is a crime. Crime does not pay. Therefore, by reading books you will die broke. :) (False logic. But, funny. Found it somewhere on the net.)

Cheers!

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Pessimist vs. Optimist

Two boys. Twins.

One is markedly a confirmed pessimist. Other is a true ever sunshine optimist.

On their birthday, their dad tries a neat little trick on them.

He buys a boatload of toys for his pessimist son and put them his room in the night.

For the optimist son, he gets several buckets full of horse manure and places them in his son's bedroom.

Next morning, both kids wake up and see different things in their respective rooms.

Father goes first to his pessimist son's room.

What he finds?

The pessimist son has opened up all his toy boxes and has put the toys all around him and, for heaven's sake, is crying.

Father - what's wrong son? You should be happy for all these toys.

Pessimist son - So many toys. Many require batteries. How will I get batteries? Now all my friends will want to play with them as well. What if they broke them? What if they steal them? How do I keep track of all these toys?

On and on, he went.

Father gave up on this hopeless son and went to check out his optimist son.

As expected, he found his son awake, cheerful and looking for something in and around.

Father - son, what are you looking for?

Optimist son (with his cheerful grin and shine in his eyes) - There is so much horse manure here. There must be one or more ponies around here. I would love to find them and have a gala time learning to ride them.

See the point?

It's all in the way we see things.

This may be a very simplistic story but how often it is true.

In fact, we all have more than enough good things in life.

Seriously, very few of us have equivalent of horse manure in our lives.

But, why  are we sad, pessimistic about everything?

Attitude. Fix it and everything else will fall in place.

Your attitude determines your altitude.

Aptitude may get you to the top. But, attitude, if right, keeps you there.

Cheers!

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