Monday, May 31, 2010

Chirpiness...


It will be nice if we get a parking ticket when we dwell too long on negative thoughts, anger, desire,hatred or petty jealousies.

We just see what our self-adorned blinkers allows us to see.

When the mind controls thoughts we are aware of the result of anger,desire, hatred etc.Being aware of the process dissipates these emotions.

Our value system is the axis around which our character revolves.

Why is that man prefers to dwell on failures, disappointments & frustrations as opposed to cherishing little victories, joys & blessings.

Sprinkle your plans with common sense and practicality.

Deference is fine. Servility is not.

Humility and self-pride go hand-in-hand.

Add a touch of tact to honesty.

Friendship is anchored on trust.

If you complain you have already accepted defeat.

Given a choice settle for common sense.

Values are the guiding stars in the journey of life.

A thoughtless mind is preferable to mindless thought.

Invest time,thought and money into personal financial planning.Invest in a brighter future.

The mind wrests control when the five evils of Kama (Desire), Krodha (Rage), Lobha (Greed), Moha (Attachment) and Ahankar (ego) predominate.

Spend time now on personal financial planning so that you can spend time in future comfortably.

Anger,greed, jealousy, desire and delusion happen when your mind is in control of you. Stay on top of your mind.

We have to learn to recognize the innocence in others as opposed to focusing on their bad qualities.

Unless there is whole-hearted involvement there can be no inspiration.

Throw away your colored glasses and see the world as it is.

Our lives are individual chess games with the Creator in a universal, inter-related chess board.

Each setback is a second chance to succeed.

You are all that you got.Invest in yourself wisely.

Where you are now, in no way limits where you can be in the future.

Beware, the mind always seeks to confirms its biases.

Plan your trip to the future.

Emotions manifest as thoughts.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Thought Control

Published in Indin Express on May 17,2010- "Thought Control"

Thought control refers to the control of our thoughts while traveling through the seas of life. As a kid we live in the moment enjoying everything that we come across with true spontaneity. As we grow older we spend an inordinate amount of time either regretting something in the past or worrying about the future and spoil a perfectly lovely present. We do not realize that what is past is over and we should move on. This type of activity is a waste and does not serve any purpose. The key here is to control our thoughts so that we do not waste our mental breath on either things that have happened and cannot be changed or by worrying about events that may happen in the future. Rather we should spend the time in learning from the past or in planning for a brighter future.

Our minds come to each one of us with a fatigue limit. Our minds can handle only so much of worrying, regretting, hoping, anxiety etc. After that we are just exhausted and do not have energy to focus on issues or opportunities in the present. Sometimes certain words or actions of others hurt us and tends to rankle in our minds. What happens after that is we spend our time reliving the situation and keep getting angrier by the moment. It is very essential that we break out of this cyclical thought process and move on in life. As difficult as it is, it definitely makes more sense to step back and look at the whole incident objectively and learn from it. We then have to learn to consciously just “let go”.

The ideal way to progress in life is to conserve our mental energies and focus fully on the task at hand. Our performance and the results will be far greater when we do not fritter away our energies on regrets, worries, and hatred and mind games. This is the true secret of success. We need to be aware of the workings of our mind and manage it intelligently so that our energies are always channelized to opportunities that require our whole hearted attention. We have to conserve our energy and follow the dictum, "When eating eat and when sleeping sleep". We should neither be too overjoyed at good news nor feel down in the dumps when something bad happens. All these sap our mental forces and there is no energy when it is most needed. This active thought control requires us to put our heart and soul into what we do by conserving our mental energies in order for us to succeed. Finally as physicist Sean Carroll of California Institute of Technology puts it “The past has happened and the future is up for grabs".


Tinniam V Ganesh

Friday, May 7, 2010

More chirps


Our lives happen in reverse. We come to the world as butterflies. We slowly age inside a cocoon.

The harder you work, the luckier you get.

Define your goal.Gravitate towards it.

Delayed gratification pays off in the long run

Smart financial planning secures your and your family's future.

Periodically take stock of your personal, financial and professional health.

Common sense is planning your financial future.

A resourceful mind is never bored.

Laws of the queue The queue becomes slower as you move closer to being serviced.

Laws of the queue: The other queue always moves faster than the one you are in.

Perseverance, persistence & patience are the pillars of all achievement.

Wrest control from negativity and anger.

Knowledge is organized information. Wisdom is distilled knowledge.Intelligence is wisdom crystallized

True growth happens only when there is growth in professional, personal, social and spiritual spheres.

Values are guiding stars in the journey of life.

Look inside to see better outside.

We are all wealthy in a way. We all carry a wealth of individual experiences.

Not sure whether I can hear my inner calling. I sure can hear my stomach screaming lunch time !!!

Don't regret the past and worry about the future. Rather learn from the past and plan for the future.

Worrying binds you in chains.Active living sets you free.

To learn is to grow, to grow is to live

If you don't know what to do, do what you don't know.

All creativity springs from hard practice.

Settle for common sense.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

The dance of Karma & Dharma

Published in Indian Express on 16 Apr 2010 - The Dance of Karma


Often the Hindu philosophy is wrongly referred to as being fatalistic. We are supposed to be caught in the web of our own past actions or karma from which there is no escape. This in other words is our fate and we are supposed to live with it. In Tamil they say if it is one's "vidhi" then one should just accept it.

But what people often forget that while we are bound by our karma we are free to choose our response to our past karma or choose our response in the present. We need not just lie down and face all the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune". There is nothing stopping us from “taking arms against our sea of troubles and oppose and end them" as Shakespeare would put it. Now the crucial point is what should be our response. It is in this context that we have to look at the dharma of our response. There is always the right action according to Buddhist philosophy. So when we exercise our choice we have to fully understand the context in which are acting and make the correct decision. This is dharma. So if we are faced with evil then we
stand up and fight it. If we encounter failure then we take action to avoid it in future. As Stephen Covey’s states in his book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" that a fundamental principle about the nature of man is that he/she is free to choose in the space between a stimulus and its response. So according to the Gita the stimulus that we encounter in the present may be the result of our past karma, but our response to it is governed by our free will. The Gita requires that we perform right action and make the right choice. So while we are free to make a choice among a set of alternatives we do not have any control to the consequence of choices we make. While it is known that good action always begets good results and bad acts will always reap evil. Or in others we are bound by the karma of the choice we make. So we have to make the correct choice within the purview of the situation. Like Arjuna who was confronted on the battle field against his kin the Kauravas wanted to shirk away but the dharma of the situation as clarified by Lord Krishna was to fight against the Kauravas. It is a fact that good actions will result in good providence and evil acts will beget evil.

One's present tense depends on whether one's past was perfect. The future of course depends on the choices we make in the present with good actions usually resulting in good fruits. To summarize while our present is bound by our past karma, we are free to choose, based on dharma. However the choice we make good or bad will result in either good karma or otherwise.

Tinniam V Ganesh

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Chirps


Past imperfect? present tense...future indefinite.

Anxiety results in the probability of an event being directly proportional to the level of induced discomfort.

Learn to live. Live to learn.

The map for your future lies in your past.

We are all wearing colored glasses. That is why we never see eye to eye on anything.

Why is that when your right hand is doing something you have take something from your right pocket.

Temper your temper.

Dive deep into the oceans of the past. Pearls of wisdom are bound to be buried in the sands of time.

The present always gives us a blank check. Write yourself a handsome amount.

The world is full of wise people. Children.

Anger & anxiety happen when the mind develops a mind of its own. Take control.

You are all that you got..Invest in yourself wisely.

Live light. Destroy your prejudices, biases and pre-conceived notions.


Life's problems are God's way of checking whether you are living or existing

Savvy is the prudence to balance personal dreams and practical realities.

Adversity is God's alchemy of the soul.

Failure is a better teacher than success.

Human beings are by nature lazy. Given a choice we would opt for no choices.

Ptolemy, Galileo and all others got it all wrong. Man, himself is the center of the universe. about 9 hours ago via web

A little learning everyday goes a long, long way.

Life is a like a game of chess. Make sure you make winning moves.

The more we put our mind to things, the more supple the mind becomes.

Learning to learn is more important than learning itself.

Happiness is a personal choice.


Tinniam V Ganesh