Complete Unified Theory of The Mind

Sri Sri Ravishankar says if  ‘ You can Win Over Your Mind You can win Over The Whole World’

This is a Vast topic and below Blog is a Super Blog with a series of Blogs  I have tried to structure it as below

There are 2 schools of thought with ref to the mind

1. The Path of Awareness

This consists of Action, Knowledge and Self Effort. This consists of trying to understand the mind, what it wants , what it comprises of ,what binds it and thereby try to win over it . More on Winning over the mind in this Blog  Winning Over the Mind

Any discussion on action will not be useful unless there is discussion on Karma  and whether we are free to act as we want or whether there is some force which compels us to act in a particular way in a particular situation.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar says ‘ Karma simply means action.  Action has 3 forms,

 the latent action i.e the Desire to Act , that will lead to an Action. This is the seed form of karma

the Action itself which is the seed becoming a Fruit

and the Impressions which come into our mind after performing any particular action, which is the fruit again leading to many seeds.’

For eg if the action leads to a pleasurable experience, there will be a desire to experience more such pleasure or if there is pain there will be a desire to avoid the pain. These are all the impressions of the action which lead to more action either to avoid or acquire. The stronger the impression the more the force behind desire.

There are 3 types of Karma,Prarabhda ( where the seed or actions of the past has already started giving fruit), Sanchita ( which will give fruit in near future )and Agami ( which will give fruit in future).

Law of Karma is not irrational and Unscientific. Newtons Third law of action says ‘ Every action has an equal and opposite reaction’. So for every action of ours we have to reap the consequences. However this doesn’t stop us from being more aware in the present moment and doing fresh action which might neutralise the negative effect of past Karma and only do actions which further the greater good .

For this we have to stop the negative habits which we have and cultivate good habits. More on this in this blog

  Gurudev Sri Sri says Meditation and Sudarshan Kriya has the power to remove the negative impressions from the mind and stop future bad karma from happening.

Even Modern science is coming to this view with research as papers which show the effect of Meditation and Sudarshan Kriya on our very DNA.

The Meditation Effect on Genes Research Report

Sudarshan Kriya Effect on Genes - Research Report

Apart from Meditation we can also do Seva or actions which are more Service oriented to nullify effect of Bad Karma and Increase Good Karma. More on Seva in this Blog

The Pleasure of Seva

2. Path of Divine Grace

The second , is more esoteric and goes to the source of the mind ,what powers the mind ( the soul) and more focused on understanding the divine or super mind in relation to the mind and how the Divine effects the mind.  More on this in this blog Source of The Mind

Both schools of thought one of Self effort and other of Divine grace look contradictory to each other and it has puzzled me quite a bit. 

he Guidance of a Realized Guru is of paramount importance in trying to Understand and Inculcate the Wisdom Both the Practical and Subtle aspects of Life. More about Guru in this Blog The Guru

Hearing a talk by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar on Karma and Sri Ramana Maharshi's teachings cleared up this apparent contradiction.

As Sri Ramana Maharshi says so beautifully,the Divine Grace can be compared to the Rain which is very necessary for the crops to grow, but if the field is not plowed by the farmer skilfully and as per the proper techniques( compared to our self effort) , rain by itself will not give adequate crops...So both are required self effort and divine grace one without the other wont give the best results.

  

Source of The Mind

Argument 1

Time and time again I have been puzzled by one strange thing, ,  Individual minds are in  confusion  and cant take clear decisions most of the time...but the World as a whole runs very smoothly , you can say perfectly. If we see the Vast Expanse of history we have always seen growth and development, both scientific, spiritual and political... We have mobile phones, internet, jet planes, stable political system for most of the world, things which we could not have been imagined a 100 years back

There have been hiccups down the line, wars, destruction and catastrophes but in the overall scheme of things in scale of number of people and time horizon its a small number and even those apparently disastrous events have some how contributed to the growth..

We can say that overall there seems to be one Super mind behind all the Individual minds which is guiding all of them together in one direction which is not evident to the individual minds...

Arguement 2

Thoughts keep on coming in the Mind, you can say continuously, there are logical thoughts/ random thoughts, memories of past events, plans for future etc. Thoughts are coming and going without much control from our side.

Even in sleep also thoughts come in form of dreams. Only in deep sleep there are no thoughts and there is deep rest which recharge the system. What is the battery which powers this mind and its thoughts?

In a Dead person there are no thoughts/ there is no actions. Though  apparently he looks the same, the same brain is there , there is something missing in him which  was there earlier which was powering the mind and its thoughts which is not there now

We can call it a soul or Atma  . So we can deduce the  Minds very existence depends on the Soul for its functioning...

Can we then take a leap and probably say that Atma or Divine spark not only powers the mind but also subtly influences the mind...It is the force which connects the millions of minds and guiding them together towards evolution and the greater good as we discussed in arguement 1.

From a Individual Perspective how does this knowledge help us

We see action over which doesn’t affect us directly ( for eg in the news) and we wonder why its happening? When some one behaves in manner which we find strange/ disturbing /illogical we wont get so shaken by it. If we know the divine hand is behind every action and there is probably a higher purpose behind it, we can respond in the manner best suited for it and then move on...

When so many thoughts run thru our mind we need not get shaken by it. We realize these thoughts are coming as a part of Divine plan for the service or evolution of the world. This will help us not get too identified with the thoughts and reach the inner silence of the heart which is beyond the thoughts . In this Silence we find Peace and Happiness which we are craving from so many lifetimes.

The whole purpose of Spirituality is to get in touch with this Divine spark or Spirit within us. The more in tune we are with this Divine spark the more healthier, happier and successful we are...Practices like Meditation, Pranayama and Yoga help in this. The very definition of Yoga is union, Union with the Divine Bliss within us...

How to Come out of ( Bad ) Habits

Freedom and Joy  are deep rooted desire in every human heart. But still it surprising that many of our actions are those which will eventually might  lead us to Pain and Suffering.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar  says ‘ Habit are  those activity which while Performing it  does not give any great pleasure, but Stopping it gives a lot of Pain’

'Bad' Habits are those habits which affect our Physical /Mental /Emotional or Financial Health. We realize it is bad for us and want to stop it but are unable to do so. 

For eg Smoking doesn’t give any great pleasure ...but stopping smoking will give a lot of pain.   

Whenever we indulge in any bad habit we get a certain stimulation/ pleasure ( at least at the starting ). Evolution has programmed our brains to run behind pleasure and avoid pain . ( more in this blog link What does the Mind Want?)

 Thus brain will  create a program in our BME system . The program compels us to repeat itself irrespective of the cost to our body /mind/ emotions. We might thus know intellectually smoking is bad  but we are helpless in face of the program ( habit) which occupies our BME system.

Its very difficult to remove the Habit by itself as its a deep rooted program in our system. Trying to remove it will give a lot of pain.

However there is Easier way to lessen the  impact of the Habit on our system, that is as given below

If we install 3 more programs in our BME System that is Awareness , Knowledge and Discipline, the force of the Habits comes down

Knowledge – Gathering Knowledge about effect of the bad habit   on our self and others is very important. Information is widely available due to the internet on any topic under the sun.  . The general tendency is to avoid information which we think we will find uncomfortable ( i.e goes against our habits). However if we actively start collecting information about our habits and assimilate it into our memory it can work wonders.

For eg Regarding smoking the below information has been collected

  One in two smokers will die from a smoking-related disease. Smoking damages your heart and your blood circulation, increasing the risk of conditions such as coronary heart disease, heart attack, stroke, Your lungs can be very badly affected by smoking. . Smoking causes 84% of deaths from lung cancer and 83% of deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The good news is that once you stop smoking, your health improves and your body will begin to recover.

More info at link  Smoking Health Issues

  Awareness –   As we have discussed the program of habits is deeply embedded in our Body Mind Emotions. Most of us deeply identify with our Body Mind Emotions and when the temptation to smoke comes for a smoker comes or eat sweets for a diabetic he gets carried away with the force of the programming of BME and all knowledge disappears.  He might regret later after indulging but by then its too late...

Just this Awareness ( at the crucial moment)  that its a program in my BME which is tempting me to Indulge and its not Me ( I have the Knowledge that the Habit is bad for me)  can reduce the force of temptation dramatically and can help the person overcome the temptation to  indulge.

The whole purpose of Spirtuality or Spiritual Practices is to make a person Aware that he is just not the Body Mind Emotions ( which are in grip of so many habits) .

As Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says ‘ Once the Sun Rises, Candles Loose their Charm’.

 Similarly once Awareness dawns in a person the habits loose their force.Regular practice of  Meditation /Sudarshan Kriya go a long way in Developing this  Awareness easily. More info on Meditation on Sudarshan Kriya and Meditation at link below
Sudarshan Kriya

Discipline-  

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says  ‘Freedom without discipline is like a country without a defense. Discipline protects freedom’

As a country is protected by a Strong Defense force ( Army) , we are protected by a Strong Discipline.

We have got the techniques to overcome Bad habits above. But we should also know the habits have a strength of their own due to repetition over many years.

Thus to come out of habits a two fold discipline is required

1. Time Bound Vows - Every time we indulge in a habit it becomes stronger in our conciousness. It is like charging a Phone. So to come out of habit . We should not indulge in it regularly. Thus we should Take a vow to at least temporarily discontinue the habit for a limited time.  
 For Eg -a smoker can vow to stop smoking for 90 days. More on this in this link Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar on Vows

2. Implementing   Knowledge Collection ( regarding impact of the  habits ) and Awareness Building . If this Discipline is not there all our Good Intentions will be swept way in force of the habits.

 Start Building Discipline Today by starting to take the first steps to build up Knowledge and Awareness. Best of Luck...

Winning Over The Mind

In my 17 years of career in The Personal Sales field, both In Life Insurance and Health Insurance, I  have met  and interacted closely with thousands of customers and hundreds of insurance professionals. 

One thing which I noticed was there would be some people who would be happy and satisfied irrespective of outside circumstances and some would be unhappy despite the best of circumstances.  The same was with success. The People who were successful in the life insurance field the same were successful in health insurance field . The people who used to crib and complain about various issues in the life insurance company continue to crib and complain in the Health Insurance company ( about different issues).

For Eg when we went for a company sponsored Thailand tour which as per me was very good, at the end of the tour many of my colleagues were complaining about the hotel , the food etc etc. Dissatisfaction was pouring out of them and  I really sympathized with them...

I pondered deeply about this and realised that Happy /Succesful people have one thing in common, they have won over their mind.  Their minds are in their control rather than vice versa.

As Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji says ‘ If You Win over your Mind, You can Win over the entire World’

Based on this theme, I have written the following 6 chapters, based on my journey/ learnings over the last 17 years, the learnings which I  got from reading various books, and my experiences after practicing Yoga/ Pranayam/Meditation given by the Art of Living foundation.

I welcome you to read the 7 chapters, ( by clicking the below link) which start from understanding what the Mind wants, what it comprises of, how to Manage and Clean up the Mind, and Being Free of Burden of Doershipand Ultimately find The Contentment Deep within Us. You can say it starts from the Pyschological and end with a more Spiritual concept. Winning over the Mind is a difficult concept, not at all easy, but the Ultimate Result that is a Unshaken True Happiness is well worth the effort... I wish you all Success in this Interesting /Amazing journey. Best Wishes...

Contents Chapter 1 -7

The Pleasure of Seva

         Inspired By a Talk by Sri Yadhava ji             (Senior teacher Art of Living)

Suppose God came to us one fine day and gave us a boon so that we instantaneously achieve all our goals , each and every one of them ,  what further role would we have then?   We would have missed those rich experiences we would have undergone in the process of achieving those goals, the joy of a minor success, the pain of a small failure , the struggle of analysis, self analysis and analysis of the situation, the development of the skills which are required to deal with that situation...Thus when we achieve our goal after a challenge, a struggle , the satisfaction we get is much deeper than if someone just hands it over to us ... We also develop into a much more skillful and balanced person in this process .

The purpose of human existence is to have more and more varied experiences. At the end of your life, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji says you will have a minute of flash back of your entire life , in that minute you will ask yourself only 2 fundamental questions, how much knowledge you have got and how much love you have given. The purpose of human existence is to have more and more varied experiences, as they say the joy is in the journey and not just in the destination

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji says

 A willingness to share what we have and to help others is called Seva. Seva connects us to others and makes them a part of us. The barriers dissolve that separate our happiness from their happiness. Lingering moods of unhappiness or depression dissipate when our focus is on helping someone else.

 While doing Seva, though we might be helping the people / situation for whom we are doing Seva for , the main beneficiary is our self.

The skills we learn by overcoming the challenges we face in doing the Seva , the qualities we develop will help us be successful in all spheres of life. As Sri Yadhava ji says  so beautifully, many corporates spend lakhs on training programs to teach their employees to develop the skills, like goal setting /communication/ team management . These qualities we naturally develop when we do Seva . So we should be grateful to Guruji for creating such a wonderful platform like Art of Living where in we get the opportunity to do Seva.

In doing Seva we should not develop a ego that we are helping the person concerned . If not thru us the person concerned would have got the help from some other source. Rather we should be grateful to the existence that we got a chance to contribute a small bit in Gurujis great work of bringing smile to every face.

We can only spread what we have. To spread joy we need to have joy in our heart first. This Joy we can easily cultivate within ourselves by doing spiritual practices like Yoga/Pranayama/ Meditation.

All of us have vehicles and we regularly check the tyre pressure   on a weekly or monthly basis. Its a   easy task to fill the air regularly in the tyre. Suppose we neglect to fill air regularly when we become busy in our work the chances of a tyre puncture increase dramatically and then its a much more difficult task to repair the puncture. And at that time we also have to stop using the vehicle for some time.   If Punctures start happening in a regular basis the tyre if of no use to anyone and we will be forced to replace the tyre itself. 

By doing Sadhana ( daily practices like Sudarshan Kriya/ Meditation) / by being in Satsang regularly i.e.  being in knowledge by reading Books/Hearing Talks  given by Guruji, singing Bhajans, chanting stotras etc we are maintaining our tyre pressure ( balance ) of self and ensuring the journey of our life goes smoothly. A puncture in form of a big problem can still happen but the chances/frequency reduces dramatically if we regularly maintain the tyre pressure.

So whenever we ourselves notice that there are issues creeping up in our life, we can just be aware that are we neglecting our sadhana/satsang and make the necessary changes.

When we have got so much joy /wisdom in life from The Guru it is but natural that you would want to spread it to other  people . Secondly when you see the Guru and how much he is tirelessly working for the upliftment of the world, naturally we will get inspired by him and want to at least do a small part of what he is doing.

Even when we are doing Seva we should develop the habit of taking challenging goals. All limits are kept in the mind, what the mind can conceive it can achieve. Thus whenever we plan to do  Seva we should take some Seva projects which are challenging , put our 100% best efforts and then surrender the results  to the divine...This will help us overcome our self limiting attitudes which might be hampering us in all spheres of life...

 Everyone who regularly does  at least a little Seva knows that joy in Giving is much more than the joy in Taking.  Even in our homes the elderly people find so much joy in giving gifts / making tasty food for the younger lot. The Joy in Giving / in bringing a Smile in some ones face is Mature joy, it gives a Pleasure which is indescribable in words and which is long lasting.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar Ji says

Service is the expression of love. Serve in whatever possible manner you can. Ask yourself, “How can I be useful to people around me, and to the whole world?” Then your heart starts blossoming and a completely new level begins. Otherwise we’re always thinking, “What about me, what about me?” It’s nothing! Ask, “How can I be useful, how can I give to the world?

The Guru - An Introduction

To Learn any skill   we need a Experienced Coach who can train us /guide us properly. No one has learnt swimming by just  jumping in the swimming pool and beating about randomly. All those who have learnt swimming have gone thru a proper coach who has patiently and individually taught them... Similarly to manage the complex  being whom we are and the complicated  world we live in, a Guide/Coach is required...

All Human beings have 7 layers  of existence , they are Body, Breath , Mind , Intellect, Memory, Ego  and Soul . Most confusion and misery in this world is because we have not been to taught to manage these layers of existence in a Proper or Efficient manner.  We go to school and study all about Aurangzeb, British Rule in India, about the Sun and the Moon but no one teaches us to Manage our mind, emotions and memory.

Many of our Health Issues, Relationship Issues, Career problems are due to a Lack of Understanding of  the principles on which our  Bodies , Minds and Emotions work.

The Sages of Ancient India had deep knowledge about the 7 layers of Existence and they have developed many simple and effective techniques to alleviate Human Suffering and harness Human Potential to the Maximum.  But as ages pass most of the Knowledge gets corrupted or forgotten. Many Gurus come in Every ages to Popularize the Knowledge and give a Fresh Direction and Hope to Suffering Humanity. 

'Guru' is a  Sanskrit word which comes from union of 2 words Gu Stands for Darkness and Ru Stands for remover, so The Guru is the Remover of Darkness, the Darkness of Ignorance by giving us Knowledge. To  Manage Layers of our self in the optimal manner which gives maximum welfare to us and others we need the Guidance of the Guru.  

The Guru Series of Blogs are my realizations about Guru Principle and experiences with my Guru,Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar and can be read at this Link  The Guru Blog . Hope you find it useful....

For More Info on HH Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar and Art of Living which he has founded you can click the links below

https://www.srisriravishankar.org/ 

https://www.artofliving.org/in-en

Formula For Success

                                                              

“Purity in heart, Clarity in mind, Sincerity in action and Contentment is the formula for success and happiness."- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. 

Everyone wants to be successful and happy , GuruDev Sri Sri Ravishankar ( Founder of Art of Living Foundation) has given a simple formula for success and happiness.  Pls find below my interpretation of this formula. 

 Lets look at each of the components ...

Purity in Heart – Most of the time we get into negativity  or bad behaviour mainly due to ignorance of the foolishness of the same  / or a desire for some pleasure or gain from the activity despite the risk of negative consequence.

 All the negativities/ impurities which clog our system will naturally go when our energy levels are high. As Sri Sri says all the negativity is only at the surface and in our depth all of us are naturally good and pure . A higher energy level helps us go deep within ourself which brings about wisdom and a state of bliss and comfort   .

Clarity of Mind –   Negativity and confusion in the mind is caused by low energy. Most mistakes/failures happen because our mind was confused or we were operating on premises/understanding  which is actually wrong/flawed but which we think is correct. It is later in retrospect when we analyze with a clear mind that we realize where we went wrong. Thus clarity of mind is essential requirement for success.

An increase in energy leads to clearing up the clouds of negativity and confusion which clog up the mind and brings about clarity.

With such a clear mind and pure heart, the intentions or goals which are taken will naturally be good for the person and the world.

Sincerity In Action – A person could be pure in heart and clear in mind and take up noble or sincere goals but if he is not sincere while acting there will be no success. Laziness,  Greed, Fear are some of the enemies of Sincerity. If a person acts, not getting swayed by any of these enemies but focusing clearly on the goal, undoubtedly success is assured.

Contentment – The final element of the formula is contentment. This mean being satisfied with whatever results come after the first 3 steps are taken. This will come mainly thru surrender or faith that whatever results have come , have come thru divine will and it is for the best for all concerned in the given situation.

Summary- Its been my experience that whenever a person acts with all the above components in place i.e. purity in heart, clarity in mind, sincerity in action and contentment with results, luck or divine grace automatically shines on such a person. His efforts are easily rewarded and he doesn’t have to struggle much to achieve his goals

After hearing all the above steps , a natural thought will come in our mind is how to raise our energy levels to bring about purity of heart/ clarity in mind/ freedom from fear and lethargy. This is one of the main goals of Yoga and we will discuss the same in next knowledge sheet.

 For more information on Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar and The Art of Living pls see the links below

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar  

Art of Living