Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life

What are you grateful for today?

If you take a look around, you will rarely see people smiling or expressing happiness. Unless you’re with a group of kids, I’m sure the number of unhappy people far outweigh the happy.

Why is that? Where did we go wrong? Why are there so many unhappy people?

The reason is very simple, we always look for a reason to be happy and also associate happiness with everything we want, like money, health, popularity etc. We also imagine a happy life as an idyllic situation, where everything is perfect as we wanted.

Unfortunately, there is always something that it isn’t as we wanted and that is what stops us from being happy. No matter how hard we to try to achieve, the moments of happiness flies away and makes us feel really frustrated and down.

Again we give ourselves some goals, thinking when we would have achieved them we would have been happy but alas! It is just a temporary happiness, in fact, we keep confusing joy and pleasure with happiness. Pleasure is normally temporary, happiness lasts.

We are trapped in the vicious cycle of waiting to be happy and when we have achieved what we wanted we are happy just for a while and then back to square one.

You can imagine, how frustrating it is.

"Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn't stop to enjoy it." -- William Feather

Why are we unhappy?

Now it’s time to understand the reasons for our unhappiness.

Stop reading for a moment and think of the main reason why you are not happy.

Anyone of us can have various different reasons, we are all unique, and the world probably would be boring if we were all the same.

It’s important to understand the reasons why we are not happy and question them because sometimes we don’t feel good enough or we feel not to be at par with the standards created by our society, so in this case, they are not our reasons. We have in our mind how things should be, a sense of perfection which has been created over the years by absorbing it from people around us, from the media, from our society etc. So if we don’t reach these standards that we have in our mind, then we think we are not good enough and so we are not happy. That’s why is very important to learn to question our reasons and our beliefs.

Happiness is a choice!

We need to make a decision to live a happy life and we need to change our attitudes accordingly. Happiness is also a mental state and since we can create our mental state we can create our happiness. We also have some tools to work with to keep staying in a happy frame of mind, like gratitude, living the present which is the only moment we are alive and we can be happy.

It all might seem like hard work, but it’s not, it’s all about how to creating a habit, so we can have a pleasant journey and see the magic start.

What is Gratitude?

Gratitude is the appreciation of what is valuable and meaningful to oneself; it is a general state of thankfulness and/or appreciation.

Gratitude is a way for people to appreciate what they have instead of always reaching for something new in the hopes it will make them happier, or thinking they can't feel satisfied until every physical and material need is met. Gratitude helps people refocus on what they have instead of what they lack. And, although it may feel contrived at first, this mental state grows stronger with use and practice. 

I don't have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness - it's right in front of me if I'm paying attention and practicing gratitude. Brene Brown

Why practice Gratitude

The majority of empirical studies indicate that there is an association between gratitude and a sense of overall well-being. However, there are several studies that indicate potential nuances in the relationship between gratitude and well-being as well as studies with negative findings. In terms of assessing gratitude, numerous assessment measures are available. 

From a clinical perspective, there are suggested therapeutic exercises and techniques to enhance gratitude, and they appear relatively simple and easy to integrate into psychotherapy practice. However, the therapeutic efficacy of these techniques remains largely unknown. Only future research will clarify the many questions around assessment, potential benefits, and enhancement of gratitude.

One of the things these studies show is that practicing gratitude can increase happiness levels by around 25%. This is significant, among other things, because just as there’s a certain weight that feels natural to your body and which your body strives to maintain, your basic level of happiness is set at a predetermined point. If something bad happens to you during the day, your happiness can drop momentarily, but then it returns to its natural set-point. Likewise, if something positive happens to you, your level of happiness rises, and then it returns once again to your “happiness set-point”. 

A practice of gratitude raises your “happiness set-point” so you can remain at a higher level of happiness regardless of outside circumstances.

Gratitude and Happiness

People tend to take for granted the good that is already present in their lives. One of the most powerful ways to understand gratitude is to imagine losing some of the things that you take for granted, such as your home, your ability to see or hear, your ability to walk, or anything that currently gives you comfort. Then imagine getting each of these things back, one by one, and consider how grateful you would be for each and every one. In addition, you need to start finding joy in the small things instead of holding out for big achievements—such as getting the promotion, having a comfortable nest egg saved up, getting married, having the baby, and so on–before allowing yourself to feel gratitude and joy.

"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough." -- Oprah Winfrey

Another way to use giving thanks to appreciate life more fully is to use gratitude to help you put things in their proper perspective. When things don’t go your way, remember that every difficulty carries within it the seeds of an equal or greater benefit. In the face of adversity ask yourself: “What’s good about this?”, “What can I learn from this?”, and “How can I benefit from this?”

Once you become oriented toward looking for things to be grateful for, you will find that you begin to appreciate simple pleasures and things that you previously took for granted. Gratitude should not be just a reaction to getting what you want, but an all-the-time gratitude, the kind where you notice the little things and where you constantly look for the good even in unpleasant situations. Today, start bringing gratitude to your experiences, instead of waiting for a positive experience in order to feel grateful; in this way, you’ll be on your way toward becoming a master of gratitude.

Affirmation and Source of goodness

Gratitude has two components.

First, it’s an affirmation of goodness. We affirm that there are good thing in the world, gifts and benefits we’ve received. This doesn’t mean that life is perfect; it doesn’t ignore complaints, burdens, and hassles. But when we look at life as a whole, gratitude encourages us to identify some amount of goodness in our life.

The second part of gratitude is figuring out where that goodness comes from. We recognize the sources of this goodness as being outside of ourselves. It didn’t stem from anything we necessarily did ourselves in which we might take pride. We can appreciate positive traits in ourselves, but I think true gratitude involves a humble dependence on others: We acknowledge that other people—or even higher powers, if you’re of a spiritual mind-set, gave us many gifts, big and small, to help us achieve the goodness in our lives.

Gratitude and law of attraction

One way to leverage the law of attraction and attract more of what you want in life is to be grateful for what you already have, even if it is not enough. We spend so much of our time and energy focusing on what we don’t have that we often neglect to appreciate what we do have. Instead of focusing on the one relationship you don’t have, focus and be grateful for all the wonderful friends and family you do have. Instead of focusing on your debts, focus on the richness of your life, the beauty of the sunset, the pure joy of tickling your youngest child, the delicious food on your table…

To remind yourself of all the wonderful things you have, at the end of each day take a few minutes to write down everything that you are grateful for in a diary or journal. It could be your health, a loving spouse, a beautiful home or a cup of hot cocoa. No matter how rough a day, there is always something or someone to be grateful for—a partner to come home to who will listen to you, a dog that adores you, a warm bed to sleep in or just that you survived that day with your limbs still intact.

“None is more impoverished than the one who has no gratitude. Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy.” -- Fred De Witt Van Amburgh

Focusing on things you're grateful for helps attract even more things to be grateful for. True enough! But that's not the only reason - and in fact, it's definitely not the most powerful reason.

More important than your focus is the ENERGETIC SIGNAL you are emitting when you focus on gratitude!

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Melody Beattie

The Law of Attraction works according to your thoughts, feelings, beliefs and expectations, right? When you focus on gratitude, you are thinking, feeling, believing in and expecting: Happiness. Abundance. Security. Blessings. Contentment. Generally, you are telling the universe that all is right in your world!

Give thanks for the feet and legs that carry you through your days, for the air rushing into your lungs, for the eyes that enable you to gaze in wonder at the world around you - and so much more! Express sincere gratitude for every, tiny, little thing you see, hear, feel, do or experience throughout the entire day. I'm sure you can imagine, that can be a lot to be grateful for!

As the Bible records, “When he saw he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan” (v. 15-16).

How to express gratitude?

Here are five potent ways to cultivate gratitude on a regular basis.

Express gratitude and appreciate in person. If there is someone who had a special impact in your life by his action, words or influence, make sure you appreciate the goodwill gesture of the person instantly with a big smile on your face. Or else, you may call him up and thank him expressing your thankfulness. Make it a practice and you will experience the magic of gratitude instantly.

Write a thank-you note. You can make yourself happier and nurture your relationship with another person by writing a thank-you note or letter/email expressing your gratitude and appreciation of that person's impact on your life. Send it, or better yet, deliver and read it in person if possible. Make a habit of sending at least one gratitude letter/ email a month. Once in a while, write one to yourself.

Thank someone mentally. I there is no time to write, which is a rare instance, it may help just to think about someone who has done something nice for you, and mentally thank the individual. Visualize you are thanking that person and he is happily accepting your gratitude.

Write a gratitude journal. Make it a habit to write down five gifts of gratitude you've received each day. If you feel that five reasons to be happy for is difficult to find, you must think of small instances which you might have overlooked or not paid attention towards them.

Count your blessings. Pick a time every week to sit down and write about your blessings — reflecting on what went right or what you are grateful for. Sometimes it helps to pick a number — such as three to five things — that you will identify each week. As you write, be specific and think about the sensations you felt when something good happened to you.

"Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts." Henri Frederic Amiel

From Young Manager to Future Leader

Leadership skills for new managers

Effective management is an important part of any business. When people are empowered with the responsibility to manage others, it speaks strongly of their accomplishments, work ethic and capability for leading and helping others.

The first time you become a manager, you feel affirmative and motivated; but at the same time, it can be an enormous task to achieve. This often contributes to an overwhelming experience and sometimes can even make you feel scared. Because being manager means that from now onwards you will be trusting your own intuition, make informed decisions and be accountable for your decisions. Not every decision taken will pan out the way you want, and you’re going to have to learn to accept mistakes and move on to new initiatives.

 Management is not an easy task to accomplish. It requires a multitude of skills including areas that generally get better with time when you focus on crucial processes such as creative thinking, excellence, communication, coaching, motivating etc.

But everyone needs to start somewhere and I have highlighted a few important skills that can make the transition from being an individual contributor to a manager an easy and gratifying process. Most importantly, now that you have been promoted as a manager, try flourish as a leader.

1. Master the business

Do clearly understand what you and your employees are accountable for delivering. Most of the times your subordinates are not clear about their deliverables.

We work in a constantly changing business environment. Organizations finetune their business strategy to stay ahead of competition and enhance revenue. Government regulations also keep changing. Such dynamic business gives rise to questions and confusion in the minds of employees. If not addressed properly, this may result in a gap in knowledge, which pulls down the performance of the team.

So be prepared to bridge this gap. Explain their job and goals in details, address questions from your direct reports and consider making them understand the broader perspective of the company – such as the vision, mission and core values of the organization. Link their individual goals with organizational goals. Remember, when all parties are clear about the goals, strategies and actions expected, it creates a foundation for being productive and results-oriented.

Spend time with senior leaders to understand the reason behind the strategic decisions, be aware of what is happening across the business and what your competitors are up to, so you can confidently provide support and direction to your team.

2. Be clear and communicate unambiguously

One of the biggest mistakes new managers make is assuming everyone understands clearly what is expected and that they will do it with perfection. Often you team members also rely on assumption and do not feel the necessity of asking probing questions and open the room for discussion.

This is a pitfall. Minimizing your communication with your employees is the road to failure. So, encourage open discussion and listen to your employees' ideas, issues and concerns. Give them freedom to get the work done while you still being available for guidance.

Priorities may change quite often in some organizations. This requires good communication to keep the team working in the right spirit as well as getting the error-free result accomplished on time.

3. Lead by example

It’s likely that you were asked to be a manager, because you were great at doing whatever your discipline demanded. You worked hard to achieve a certain level of trust which resulted in your success and your promotion as a manager.

Now that you are a manager, people are going to look up to you when they need inspiration and start taking you as a paragon. The values you inculcate, the respect you demonstrate for individuals, the way you handle adversity and ambiguity, and the way you persevere through the toughest of times, is now considered so set a standard for how others will act and behave.

You need to be very conscious of your emotions, actions and reactions. You need to loosen up, calm down, be patient, be assertive and develop a cognizant attitude, so you can lead in a way that people will admire and appreciate.

4. Learn the subtle art of delegation

Coming from an individual contributor role, you’re used to getting involved in the details of an assignment—keeping track of all the tasks, the phone calls you need to return, and the documentation of your notes.

During your initial days as a manager, it will be a habitual attraction to take an account of all the specifics that your team is working on. You must accept the fact that you cannot be everywhere at once. Trying to be vigilant on all the tasks of your subordinates will turn you into a micromanager, which can work adversely on the morale of your team.

By shifting your focus more on result than on process, you will create room to invest your energy on important and critical issues, emphasise on process optimization and revenue generation.

Instil a culture of ownership, cooperation and knowledge sharing amongst your subordinates to make this an easier process. While still being informed, you need to let others lead, so they can grow their abilities and perspective. Mastery of the art of effective delegation needs time, but you need to actively build your trust on the skills and capability of your team members.

5. Accept changes in relationship

Often first-time managers find themselves managing people who were once their peers or people they have nurtured a personal relationship with. This creates an environment where ego takes the lead and sours the personal relationship.

You must realize and accept, when you become their manager the relationship changes, and you need to be transparent about that. You are now their boss and you will need to wear that hat when you are in the office. You can never allow your personal relationships affect business decisions. And you need to be fair and impartial irrespective of the extent of your friendliness with your people.

You must set right expectations and have clear conversation upfront that things have changed. Even if starting a conversation feels weird, it is better to clarify this in the initial days and leave no space for confusion.

6. Be proactive and take new initiatives

As a manager, you’re now the one responsible for figuring out how you and your staff can accomplish broader team goals and start looking for creative solution to problems. And if there’s something you think your process is lacking, take it as an opportunity to improve and accomplish it. Your managerial ability is perceived in best way if you find those gaps and fix them without waiting for your boss to tell you to do so. This will bring you in limelight and make your efforts visible to your superiors.

Do not be afraid of trying out new things. Take calculated risks and make the effort. The worst that can happen while taking up a new initiative is that it may not go as per plan, or might fail to fetch desired result. But that’s okay! Rather than taken it as a failure, take it as a learning and move ahead.

7. Be obsessed with learning

The legendary Steve Jobs in his ending comment in the Stanford Commencement in 2005 suggested the present generation to “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” And it has become even more relevant today in the face of changing business scenarios. Industry regulations and technological advancements are moving at such a faster pace that you always need to stay one step ahead of the game.

To stay engaged and motivated, have an appetite for learning, and absorb as much as possible. Work will be a whole lot more interesting when you’re constantly venturing in new ideas, testing them out, and using them to push yourself and your team forward.

As you can see, continuous learning can be a key ingredient in your success. In addition, as knowledge becomes obsolete at a faster and faster rate, keeping your personal knowledge base up-to-date is quickly becoming a matter of survival!

8. Provide coaching and feedback

While managing the performance of the employees is the key responsibility of the manager, coaching and providing feedback regularly is an increasingly important part of a modern manager's job. It’s impossible for people to develop without coaching and feedback.

Performance coaching is an ongoing process which helps build and maintain effective employee and supervisory relationships. Performance coaching can help identify an employee's growth potential, identify areas of improvement, and develop new skills. Using their coaching skills, supervisors should evaluate and address the developmental needs of their employees and work coactively on developing plans that might help them gain necessary skills.

If your team aren’t aware of what they can improve, it doesn’t allow them to change or really build upon what’s going well. So, provide well-crafted feedback to employees in the right spirit on a consistent basis. Feedback is useful and meaningful when it is provided immediately or very soon after the performance has occurred or behaviour is exhibited. A stale feedback is a wastage of time.

It’s not only important to be timely with your constructive feedback, but also in recognizing and celebrating achievements. Remember the old saying ““Praise in public, reprimand in private”, which is generally used in context of parenting; but the same holds true even for the adults you are working with. Be sensitive towards people and their self-esteem.

9. Respect individuals and their needs

Treating others the way you want to be treated is the golden rule when it comes to respect for individual, Hold on to your resentment and harsh words in times of stress and anxiety.

Workplace consists of diverse kind of people when it comes to gender, race, ethnic group, age, appearance, personality, work style, ability, tenure, education, thought-process, socio-economic background and many more. Treat everyone equal. Embracing diversity is all about accepting and respecting the differences.

Be sincerely engaged and interested in learning the person’s perspective when listening to them. It is important to get to know your employees, boss and colleagues; their interests and the needs that drive them. This will help the young managers to connect well with the people in the organization, irrespective of the role or designation.

Some employees voice needs openly and others keep things private. As a manager, it is important to pick up nonverbal cues, understand unspoken needs and offer assistance. Building good relationships with everyone will make your work easier and the work environment more productive.

Having good relationships does not mean you have to be best friends with everyone, or go out socially or share all your personal feelings and events. A good relationship is constructive, productive and self-corrective and engages in mutual respect and understanding.

10. Exhibit strong integrity

Integrity is one of the fundamental values that employers seek in the employees that they hire. It is the hallmark of a person who demonstrates sound moral and ethical principles at work.

Honesty and trust are central to integrity. Acting with honour and truthfulness are also basic tenets in a manager with integrity. A manager who has integrity, values his relationship with co-workers, customers, and stakeholders, strongly follows work ethics, and live a life of esteem and dignity.

Managers who demonstrate integrity draw others to them because they are trustworthy and dependable. They are principled and can be counted on to behave in honourable ways even when no one is watching.

Don’t play games with people, be ambiguous or try to impress everyone with being someone you are not. Always be truthful and transparent. Engaging in office politics or gossip is a quick way to lose credibility, compromise your career and degrade your image to be a good manager.

To sum it up

Being yourself and learning more about best practices in management will help you develop your knowledge and skills to be a great manager. Managing other people is an art and a science that can be learnt and manifested.

Becoming an effective, inspiring leader takes time. Find a fine balance—between moving too fast and not making an effort at all, between exerting your authority and not becoming overpowering, and between being enthusiastic and staying realistic.

The journey from being a manager to a leader is a delicate process. Aspire to learn continually with a sensitive and open mind and you’ll not even realize when you started to lead and when people started to follow you.  Just remember, it’s a learning curve and a rewarding process. Enjoy it!

Happy journey!

Book Summary: The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success By Deepak Chopra

THE LAWS THAT GUIDE THE UNIVERSE

Today I have decided to summarize my realization after reading a book that truly resulted in a quantum leap in my thought-process and spiritual consciousness. “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success” written by Deepak Chopra is a pocket-sized book that we can finish in a day, but the effect is strong enough to transform our lives. So simple, yet so intricate; so easy yet so enlightening; so compact yet so enormous that we would not even realize the depth but will swim across the deepest of the ocean of spiritual enlightenment.  This is a book to cherish for a lifetime and beyond.

Let us discern the teachings by looking into the laws and interpret them from a spiritual vista.

The Law of Pure Potentiality

The source of all creation is pure consciousness, pure potentiality seeking expression from the unmanifest to the manifest.

And when we realize that our true Self is one of pure potentiality, we align with the power that manifests everything in the universe.

Every individual has an ocean of potential. But while fulfilling the chores of daily life; due to the constant pressure of the society; in trying to be perfect as per the norms of the society; we forget our true identity. We constantly compare ourselves with others and evaluate ourselves against a benchmark; in the process, we become the slave of the society and gradually get conditioned to join a rat race.

We start believing that we are born to achieve certain goals in life, enjoy the finest of the luxuries of the world, to stand up to the expectations of others, to become powerful to dominate others, and to accumulate wealth. This gives us a sense of satisfaction and we feel safe and comfortable.

God has created us in His Image. We are a particle of God. As a drop of water taken from an ocean has all the properties of the water present in the ocean, so are we - Beings of Divine consciousnesses. 

It is time to bring that knowledge from subconscious to conscious. It is time to realize the tremendous power that lies within the soul. This is the power that can move hearts, can heal lives, that through centuries has illuminated the lives of people. This is the true realization of love, knowledge and power, the Godly nature of human beings.

The way to harness this Divine energy is by seeking God in every aspect of life, by leading a rightful life, through the daily practice of meditation, by being kind and loving to all sentient beings and practicing non-judgment and non-injury.  Our lives can then be filled with infinite creativity, freedom and bliss.

The Law of Giving

The Universe operates through the dynamic exchange; giving and receiving are two aspects of the flow of energy in the universe.

And in our willingness to give that which we seek, we keep the abundance of the universe circulating in our lives.

If we want to get loved, we must learn to give love. The easiest way to get what we want is to help others get what they want.

Thought has the power to transform. We should think good and will receive well in return. The most powerful forms of giving are non-material, such as love, compassion, kindness, mercy and forgiveness.

Pure affection is the most potential gift that we can give to someone. In return, the Universe showers gifts on us. We should receive all the gifts, enjoy the bliss and show gratitude.

The Law of “Karma” or Cause and Effect

Every action generates a force of energy that returns to us in like kind. What we sow is what we reap. If we sow a seed of an apple, it grows into an apple tree and we get apples, not mangoes! 

Another manifestation of this law is the law of abundance. A seed of apple once sown will give hundreds of apple and will continue to do so for a considerable period of time.

Likewise, when we choose actions that bring happiness and success to others, the fruit of our karma is happiness and success. It keeps bringing good fortunes not only to us but for our future generations. On the contrary, bad karma shrouds us in the darkness of misfortune, and the effect multiplies till the time we realize our mistake, learn our lesson from it and take all necessary action to neutralize the bad karma.

The Law of Least Effort

When we harness the forces of peace, harmony, joy, goodwill and love, we create success and good fortune with effortless ease.

Ultimately we come to the state where we do nothing and accomplish everything. Nature's intelligence functions effortlessly, organically and spontaneously. It is non-linear; it is intuitive, holistic, and nourishing.

When our actions are motivated by love, the positive energy radiates and becomes one with the frequency of peace and harmony.

It is important to respect and accept the circumstances, act with responsibility and come out of the situation. If we have harnessed the energy of good Karma, our intuition becomes so strong that the entire universe guides us to come out of the situation; help comes from the most unexpected quarters.

This gives us an experience of confidence, fulfillment, delight, joy, freedom, and autonomy in every moment and in every aspect of our life but the key is to enjoy them with gratitude and thankfulness.

The Law of Intention and Desire

Every intention that we nourish in out heart and desire for its fulfillment is immensely and infinitely powerful.

And when we plant the seed of intention in the fertile ground of fair and divine potentiality, we invite the unfathomed cosmic energy to work for us.

This mind-shift is brought about by the two qualities inherent in our divine consciousness: attention and intention.

Attention energizes, and intention transforms.

Once we use our intent for the benefit of mankind, the entire Universe spontaneously radiates energy to match the frequency of our intention and align the energy to favour the fulfillment of the intention.

Our intent is for the future, but our attention is in the present. As long as our attention is in the present, then our intent for the future will manifest; because the future is created in the present. We must accept the present and work towards creating the future.

This is essentially what we call "The Law of Attraction".

The Law of Detachment

We are in eternal quest of security, an illusion that arises from lack of confidence and greed for more. abundance makes us feel secure. so we tend to accumulate wealth, always want our loved ones around us.

The solution to this whole dilemma lies in the wisdom of insecurity, or the wisdom of uncertainty. This means that the search for security and certainty is actually an attachment to the known. When our life revolves around the known, it stagnates. It gets such a strong sense of achievement that it leaves no room for the Unknown, the Mystic.

Life is like a flowing river; if it becomes stagnant, the river is trapped in its own habitat, and all living creatures that live in it die; ultimately the river decays and cease to exist.

Uncertainty and unknown, on the other hand, is the fertile ground of pure creativity and freedom.

The Law of Detachment does not interfere with the Law of Intention and Desire. It is necessary to intent, fulfill our goals, but let not our life swirl around the trap of the desires, the allure of "Maya".

Similarly, we should not over-think about problems in our life, do whatever we could do to solve them and then "relax and let go". Instead of brooding over the problems, let us create a life with fewer problems. We must remember problems arise in our life for a reason; once we learn the lesson, the same problem never comes back in our lives.

The Law of "Dharma" or Purpose in Life

Life has blessed everyone with a "gift" or special talent. The very purpose of life is to realize that Gift and be grateful for the blessing. That gift is a mean to serve the mankind. That is the path to discover divinity within us. Service is the ultimate goal and purpose of life, and this needs the energy of love and kindness. While we walk tirelessly on the path of service and assistance, we do fulfill the purpose of the Soul; that is, to be one with the Divine and manifest our true Self.

This is a book that has really moved me to an extent that I could not stop myself from sharing a short summary with the readers of my blog and the subscribers of my Facebook page. If you like this post, please hit the thumbs up button; If you feel this post will help others in some way, please share on your social media platforms, if you have a question or suggestion, feel free to comment and discuss. Let these Spiritual Laws bring out the best in us!

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Listen, witness and observe

The Silent Retreat.

Four monks decided to meditate silently without speaking for two weeks.

They began with enthusiasm and no one said a word the whole day.

By nightfall of the first day, the candle began to flicker and then went out.

The first monk blurted out, "Oh, no! The candle is out."

The second monk said, "Hey! We are not supposed to speak!"

The third monk said in an irritated voice, "What is this? Why did both of you break the silence?"

The fourth monk smiled and said, "Wow! I'm the only one who hasn't spoken."

~~~

Reflections:

Each monk broke the silence for a different reason, each of which is a common stumbling block in our inner journey.

The first monk got distracted by one aspect of his experience (the candle) and forgot what was more important - the practice of witnessing without reacting.

The second monk was more worried about others following the rules than in actually practicing himself.

The third monk let his anger towards the first two monks affect him.

And the fourth monk lost his way because of pride.

Why did the fourth monk speak at all?
He could have simply maintained his silence and he would have been successful in his endeavor.

But if he had, chances are, the other three might have continued to argue and not even noticed his silence.

Some people are like this. Their motto is "If I'm doing something good, but no one notices, I might as well not be doing it at all."
They believe that the reward is not in the effort, but in the recognition.

There is a beautiful quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes, "It is the province of knowledge to speak; it is the privilege of wisdom to listen."

As we learn to truly listen, witness and observe without impulsively reacting with distraction, judgement, anger and pride, then we understand the true meaning of silence.

Your thoughts are live!

What is Karma?

Buddha was sitting with his disciples. One of them asked him "What is Karma?"

Buddha said, "Let me tell you a story..."

A king was touring his kingdom on his elephant. Suddenly he stopped in front of a shop in the market and said to his minister, "I don't know why, but I want to hang the owner of this shop." The minister was shocked. But before he could ask the king why, the king had moved on.

The next day, the minister went to that shop dressed as one of the locals to see the shopkeeper. He casually asked him how his business was faring. The shopkeeper, a sandalwood merchant, reported sadly that he had hardly any customer. People would come to his shop, smell the sandalwood and then go away. They would even praise the quality of the sandalwood but rarely buy anything. His only hope was that the king would die soon. Then there would be a huge demand for sandalwood for performing his last rites. As he was the only sandalwood merchant around, he was sure the king's death would mean a windfall.

The minister now understood why the king had stopped in front of this shop and expressed a desire to kill the shopkeeper. Perhaps, the shopkeeper's negative thought vibration had subtly affected the king, who had, in turn, felt the same kind of negative thought arising within.

The minister; a nobleman, pondered over the matter for a while. Without revealing who he was or what had happened the day before, he expressed a desire to buy some sandalwood. The shopkeeper was pleased. He wrapped the sandalwood and handed it over to the minister.

When the minister returned to the palace, he went straight to the court where the king was seated and reported that the sandalwood merchant had a gift for him. The king was surprised. When he opened the package, he was pleasantly surprised by the fine golden colour of the sandalwood and its agreeable fragrance. Pleased, he sent some gold coins to the sandalwood merchant. The king also felt sorry in his heart that he had harboured unbecoming thoughts of killing the shopkeeper.

When the shopkeeper received the gold coins from the king, he was astounded. He began to proclaim the virtues of the king who had, through the gold coins, saved him from the brink of poverty. After some time, he recalled the morbid thoughts he had felt towards the king and repented for having entertained such negative thoughts for his own personal goal.

If we have a good and kind thought for another person, that positive thought will come back to us in a favourable way. But if we harbour evil thoughts, those thoughts will come back to us as retribution.

"What is Karma?" asked Buddha

Many replied, "Our words, our deeds, our feelings, our actions......"

Buddha shook his head and said

"Your thoughts are your Karma!"

Half-life of knowledge

Are you twenty or thirty something? And you are doing pretty well in your career? You had been good or above average in your academics? And you have a job that is perhaps not a dream job but is good enough to chase your dreams and goals? Oh! then that is what I must call a perfect career. Isn’t it?

Now it’s time to face some of the realities of present day life.

Do you feel amazed when you see a 10-12 years old kid knows all the basic skills to operate a smart phone, they can play online games at ease, which you could not have even imagined at that age, or perhaps even now? Or, do you feel obsolete when a kid from nursery classes spell that English word with phonetics and not alphabets, like what we used to do in school? Do you get perplexed by upcoming subjects as data science and analytics and actuarial science, which perhaps you have never even heard of during your school and college days? Do you get scared when you think of taking a basics course on cognitive learning and artificial intelligence? Do terms like IoT (Internet-of-things), ICT (Information and Communications Technology), Big data, IBM Watson,  Mind Mapping sound alien to you?

I’m sure that you are frowning at all these questions but you definitely know that the answer to these questions is a big YES! And you might have come to a time when your knowledge and skills that you have acquired over years started to become obsolete.

But better late than never, when you realized that your skills have depreciated over time, what’s next?

Well, the next is what I refer to as continuous learning to maintain sustainability and get that competitive edge!

Most people associate learning with formal education at school, college, university etc.  We are all told, from an early age, that we should ‘get a good education’.

Generally speaking, it is true that a formal education and the resulting qualifications are important. Education may maximize our potential to find better, more satisfying jobs, earn more and, perhaps, become more successful in our chosen career.

There are two main reasons for learning throughout life: for personal development and for professional development.  These reasons may not necessarily be distinct as personal development can improve your employment opportunities and professional development can enable personal growth.

Learning for Personal Development – There does not need to be a specific reason for learning since learning for the sake of learning can in itself be a rewarding experience.

Moreover, keeping the brain active does have advantages since learning can prevent you from becoming bored and thus enable a more fulfilling life at any age.

There are, of course, many reasons why people learn for personal development. You may want to increase your knowledge or skills around a particular hobby or pastime that you enjoy. Perhaps you want to develop some entirely new skill that will in some way enhance your life. Or you’re planning a trip and want to learn more about the history and culture of your destination.

Learning for Professional Development – Being well-educated is not necessarily the key to employment. Although qualifications may get you an interview, actually getting the job can take a lot more. Employers are looking for well-balanced people with transferable skills. This includes the ability to be able to demonstrate that you are keen to learn and develop.

If you do find yourself unemployed then use the time wisely. Learning something new can pay-off with new opportunities which might not otherwise have arisen.

While you are employed, take advantage of training, coaching or mentoring opportunities and work on your continuous professional development as you will likely become better at what you do and more indispensable to your current or future employer.

Putting the time in for extra learning brings its own rewards.

A few years ago when the US had high rates of unemployment, there was a strong suggestion that this was not due to a lack of jobs, but rather a lack of skills.

However, rather than investing in more courses or programs for members of staff to attend, organizations turned their attentions to technology platforms instead. Coupled with social and mobile tools, these platforms enabled companies to develop and share content, provide employees with training materials when they were needed most, and deliver continuous learning.

This represented a shift away from the old ways of formal training, which typically took place in the classroom and involved a teacher telling us what we needed to know. In its place, continual learning gives us a more engaging and satisfying training experience, where we can learn informally on the job or at a time and place that suits us.

Arguably the main reason why you should embrace a habit of continuous learning is that, without such an agile and adaptive life, you are definitely going to get left behind. Skilled jobs are becoming more and more specialized, while the rate in which things like industry regulations and technological advancements change mean that you always need to stay one step ahead of the game.

And in this context let me introduce you to another concept called Half-life of knowledge.

Half-life of knowledge is the time it takes for widely accepted knowledge to become obsolete or shown to be wrong. It is an analogy to the half-life of radioactive decay that captures the tendency for well-accepted ideas to be improved or reinvented with time. For example, the medical treatments of one century may look barbaric to the next. It is likely that current environmental practices that contaminate air, water and soil with known toxins will seem strange to the future.

Likewise, today's science, technology, social values, and practices will seem primitive to the future, perhaps comically so.

The half-life of ideas analogy isn't completely accurate as some ideas may last indefinitely. The durability of ideas varies from one subject area to the next. Social sciences and psychology are thought to have a short half-life whereby half the accepted ideas change every 5 or 10 years. In areas such as technology, half-life may be even shorter. The half-life of scientific knowledge is considerably longer, perhaps 50 to 100 years. In areas such as philosophy, ideas thousands of years old continue to endure.

As you can see, continuous learning can be a key ingredient in your success. In addition, as knowledge becomes obsolete at a faster and faster rate, keeping your personal knowledge base up-to-date is quickly becoming a matter of survival!

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