Sunday, May 11, 2014

Motivation & Small victories leading to ultimate success

Monday, 12th May 2014

What is motivation? Have you ever tried to understand about it?

All of you might have experienced that you are motivated by somebody else or by some incidents in life.

When you observe the success of another person you might be motivated, thinking that I also must have the same success in life. C V Raman Pallai, the great Malayalam novelist was motivated by the publishing of Chandu Menon's Indulekha, the first published novel in Malayalam. CV had already completed his novel when Indulekha was published. If CV had published his novel soon after it was written, he would have been considered as the first novelist in Malayalam. That incident motivated CV to create the final draft of Marthandavarma, his first novel, ready to publish. Motivation can come in the form of advise from other people. When I was a boy of age 10, I was careless in having enough food because of my busy schedule running from Kathakali class to tuition class and to the school. My body became very weak. One of our family friends advised me about the importance of having enough food. That was a motivation for me. I started taking extra care about having enough food whenever I ate.

Motivation is the feeling to do something or not to do something. For example, motivate somebody to stop smoking, of course, which is very very difficult motivation though.

But the motivation coming from outside is second grade motivation. The real motivation is that which comes from inside. One of my friends from Japan had told me that in their country, small babies, when the parents realized the need, were thrown into the deep water in restricted conditions. They say that the babies of 3yrs or 4yrs of age swim back to the shore without much difficulty. They explain that babies can swim by birth. Because there is no motivation or need, he/she forgets this skill until you remind him/her when you teach him/her swimming! Anyway, when the baby is thrown into the water, what happens there? An urgency forms in front of the baby to use its skill to swim. No other way but to swim for life! See, here the motivation comes from within.

In Mahabharatha, the hunter boy Ekalavya was rejected by Drona, the great teacher of all warriors. Ekalavya was not de-motivated by this incident. He made a sculpture of Guru Drona and practiced weapons by himself, in front of the sculpture. And he could become more powerful than Arjuna, the favorite student of Drona. Ekalavya's motivation was from within.

The actual motivation must come from within. When you realize that there is no other way but to act, that is the real motivation. Human being is in fact helpless. He cannot live without action. The necessity to find out food and shelter itself makes us motivated in doing work. The civilization demands much more actions from each one of us.

Do small activities daily, like morning walk, exercises, reading good books other than your study material, small helps to others executed voluntarily.. such small self-motivated activities will develop your habit of being motivated from within.



The one who is motivated from within, have great self confidence and power to execute any difficult task in life..

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Small personal victories leading to ultimate success

Get up early in the morning..
Do some exercises..
Do some prayer/meditation before break fast..
These are the most difficult advices for many people to follow. But these are the easiest roads to success in life.

It is true that waking up in the morning and still stay on the warmth of the bed is one of the most enjoyable thing in a day. Most of the people are not ready to give this joy up for anything. So you get up late. No time for exercise or prayer even though you want to do them. When you reach in the workplace, you have the guilty feeling that even though I wanted to do some exercises, I couldn't. That feeling stays all day and the phrase 'I couldn't' resonates inside you when you do anything at work.

On the other hand, if you wake up sufficiently in the morning and do your exercises / studies / prayers / whatever you want to do, when you reach at work, it will give you tremendous confidence to function well. You will remain active all day long. If you are a student, when you spend some time for your studies in the morning fresh hours that will make your day wonderful and joyful.

I will give you a tip, to get up in the morning in time. Suppose you need to get up at 6am to finish all your plans of jogging, exercise, prayer etc. In that case, you manage yourself to go to bed at around 11pm and fix the alarm for 5:30am. It is very important to go to bed early if you want to get up early. you wake up at 5:30am and during the first 30mins you may remain on bed, enjoying the lazy freshness of the morning. After 30mins, instead of being carried away by your pleasurable mind, get up at 6am victorious and bustling.

The feel of the morning action stays in you all day long until the evening. So if you start your day with a self victory that makes you victorious psychologically all day long. But if you start a day with self failure, the result of that day also might be the same.

Be permanently victorious by small personal self victories..!

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Even This Will Pass Away

Monday, 7th April, 2014

Once in Persia reigned a king, Who upon his signet ring,
Carved a maxim strange and wise, When held before his eyes,
Gave him counsel at a glance, Fit for every change and chance:
Solemn words, and these were they: “EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY.”

Trains of camel through the sand Brought him gems from Samarcand;
Fleets of galleys over the seas Brought him pearls to rival these,
But he counted little gain, Treasures of the mine or main;
“What is wealth?” the king would say, “EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY.”

Mid the pleasures of his court At the zenith of their sport,
When the palms of all his guests Burned with clapping at his jests,
Seated midst the figs and wine, Said the king, “Ah, friends of mine.
Pleasure comes but not to stay, “EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY.”

Woman, fairest ever seen Was the bride he crowned as queen,
Pillowed on the marriage-bed Whispering to his soul, he said,
“Though no monarch ever pressed Fairer bosom to his breast,
Mortal flesh is only clay! “EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY.”

Fighting on the furious field, Once a javelin pierced his shield,
Soldiers with a loud lament Bore him bleeding to his tent,
Groaning from his tortured side, “Pain is hard to bear;” he cried.
“But with patience, day by day, EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY.”

Towering in a public square Forty cubits in this air,
Stood his statue carved in stone, And the king disguised, unknown,
Gazed upon his sculptured name. And he pondered, “What is fame?”
“Fame is but a slow decay! “EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY.”

Struck with palsy, sore and old, Waiting at the gates of gold,
Said he with his dying breath “Life is done, but what is Death?”
Then as answer to the king Fell a sunbeam on his ring;
Showing by a heavenly ray. EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY.”

A poem by Theodore Tilton (October 2, 1835 – May 29, 1907)
He was an American newspaper editor, poet and abolitionist. (In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historical movement to end the African slave trade and set slaves free.)
The rock singer Robert Plant has put Tilton's poem "Even This Shall Pass Away" to music in a song of the same name, a recording of which is featured on the singer's Band of Joy album (2010).

SPIRITUALITY - Consider it patiently


Monday, 07th April 2014

SPIRITUALITY: Have you ever patiently tried to understand the actual meaning of this word?

We hear this word very often in various situations. What does spirituality stand for?

Spirituality refers to the NATURAL urge in human being to find out/realize/overcome his/her NATURAL limitations in all aspects of existence.

Man takes birth with a lot of limitations. He/she can't hear sound beyond a limited frequency. His/her eyes are useless beyond a limited distance. His/her physical strength is very limited and conditional. His memory, imagination and thought power are highly limited. Moreover, man is influenced/enchanted by a lot of things in the world. Man forgets that his/her life is very very short and believes that he/she is eternal. His/her false pride and pretensions make him/her more and more limited.

By the grace of Nature, selected men/women realize these limitations in them, and that very moment, they get the glimpses of the unlimited entity existing extended from their limited beings. The awareness of the existence of an unlimited NATURAL behavior is called GOD. God can see anything. He has no limitation with His eyes. He has no limitation with His ears. He can hear anything. He can imagine anything. He has no limitation with imagination. He can see the Truth, for He is the Truth. He can do anything. He has no limitations with action.. See, how unlimited HE is!

This unlimited entity appeared in our thought because we realized the limitations in our existence. This is the important point.

Observe/Realize our own limitation in each and every aspect of our being is the only way to understand the unlimited entity, which is GOD. Internal awareness leads to the realization of our limitations and internal management leads us go beyond them.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

The Power of NOW

Monday, 31 March 2014

Have you ever thought of the power of NOW?

Past is past and the future has not yet arrived. We truly live at present. So the feeling of NOW is the only reality. Consider seriously, what is past is only your memory. And what is future is only your imagination/planning. What you are experiencing is the NOW. So your mind knows only one reality and that is the power of NOW.

Can you see the problem you are facing now, in terms of the FPN category? Is your problem concerned with Future event/s? Is it related with past incident/s? Your present problem, the one you are worried about right now, may be the after effect of some course of action in the past. Or it can lead to some kind of actions in future. Realize that you have the capacity only to act at PRESENT. You can neither go back to your past nor reach your future. So actions already passed are out of control. You MUST experience the after effect of them. No escape. Your NOW faces this reality. But how you react to this reality of NOW shapes the characteristics of the future.

So calmly, with patience, develop a good habit of demarcating FPN category of any problem you are facing. Future and Past categories of actions are not at your hand. But what NOW is in front of you. Never miss the chance of making use of the power of NOW. Do not procrastinate. Act NOW. Live NOW.

Planning a day hour by hour and translate the planning into action is the only way to build up methodically the awareness of the power of NOW.

All real happy men/women are living in the continuous memory of the power of NOW.
Develop the habit of understanding your problems on the basis of the power of NOW.
Nurture the ability to experience the beauty of The Nature through the power of NOW.

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I AM Centre

I AM Centre (Internal Awareness and Management Centre) is a space where you can visit daily for acquiring perfect peace and happiness of mind.

I AM Centre (Internal Awareness and Management Centre) is a space where you can visit daily for motivating yourself for effective functioning of your duties and works.

I AM Centre (Internal Awareness and Management Centre) is a space where you can visit daily for building up the habit of SIT Analysis (Self Investigation and Thought Analysis).

I AM Centre is a truly spiritual centre concerned only with humanity and social service. It has no connection with any religious/political organization.

Why this centre: Strong and spot-less Character is the basis for developing all skills in life. Character formation is the after effect of sincere introspection. So the visit to I AM Centre daily helps to cultivate the habit of introspection, hence self purification, hence concentration, hence skillful functioning of life. 

Requirements: An I AM Centre needs a hall where at least 30 people can sit comfortably. There will be a small library/reading room connected with the centre. This library contains books on self knowledge, the process of self investigation and the methods to cultivate internal management. There will be a care taker (man/woman) who will be in charge of all activities and maintenance of the centre. There will be daily free lunch served in the centre for all who are in need of it.

There will not be any symbol of any religious/political organization inside the hall. It should be free from all symbols.
It should be free from all sounds.
It should be free from fundamentalism.
It should be free from fanaticism.
It should be free from hatred.

There should be love, silence, understanding, acceptance, togetherness cultivated in I AM Centre.
I AM Centre will organize occasional workshop/camps for bringing the participants closer to various aspects of I AM like positive thinking, better character formation, practical goal setting, effective time management, cultivating emotional intelligence, importance of daily physical exercise etc.

What to do: A daily visitor in an I AM Centre must have initial awareness about the importance of I AM in life. He/she can acquire this knowledge by participating in the I AM workshops, by listening to talks or by reading books on this subject. He/she must spend at least 30 minutes inside the centre daily in silent meditation or by doing Yoga asana-s.
I AM Centre is a place of silence.
Observe silence.
Feel silence.
Allow silence.
Respect silence.

What not to do: No loud prayer or chanting is allowed inside the centre hall. No conversation in allowed inside the centre hall. No feel of silence of others should be disturbed by any voice/action.

Free entry: There will not be any kind of entrance fee for using I AM Centre for your internal awareness and self motivation.

Who can build: Anybody who has the will, service mentality and a piece of land can build an I AM Centre.


Monday, March 24, 2014

SIT Analysis (Self Investigation & Thought Analysis)

Monday, 24 March 2014

Acronyms are useful for SIT Analysis. (Acronym is an abbreviation consisting of the first letters of each word in the name of something, pronounced as a word. Example: AIDS is an acronym for 'Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome'.)

It is very important that we try self analysis at least once a day. Those who want to grow internally with pure heart and creative mind, must practice this three times a day.

What do you investigate inside your self? We must realize the fact that our heart is a 'bad habits prone area'. It is very easy to grow a bad habit at heart than cultivating good ones. Complaining about others, competing with others, cheating, hating, possessing all these are easy for human mind. No teacher is needed to teach such negative deeds. Man learns them simply by association. But to cultivate positive habits, you need a lot of will power. Good character is the firm ground for cultivating positive habits. Thoughts, words and actions build up your character. So checking your thoughts, which is the source of words and actions, very often is inevitable for building up your character. Better habits sprout up from of good character.

Self Investigation & Thought Analysis (SITA) is very simple. Stop your activities and sit calmly for a moment. Start introspection. Just look deep into your thoughts. Listen to your thoughts. Try to understand the nature of your thoughts. Not assuming about the behaviour of your thoughts. But listen with a realistic sense. Just be attentive to what your thoughts are trying to 'explain' to you. Once you are 'friendly' with your thoughts, you may use different acronyms for effective investigation. For example: Design DISH. Design Diet, Design Interaction, Design Sex, Design Hobby. Generally an acronym helps you to remember a lot of things easily. Here in this example, DISH stands for Diet, Interaction, Sex and Hobby. Investigate in your thoughts to know what is your diet habit, how do you interact with people, design your interaction with each one, what is your sex habit and what are your hobbies. You will get clear picture of your personality through practicing SIT Analysis using this acronym. Once you have clear knowledge about yourself, it will be easier to manage yourself for the betterment of the habits. Are you having a healthy diet habit? How can you improve the effectiveness of your interaction with people? Are you following a purposeful sexual relationship? Do your hobbies make you more creative and better human being? Ask yourself. Get the answers and act accordingly and courageously.

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What does it mean by a creative mind?

See this incident: A & B are working in a small room. A wants to open the only window of the room. B doesn't agree with that idea. He does not want to open it. They started arguing on this matter. A wants to open the window and B wants to keep it closed.
Then C comes to the room and asks them about their argument. When C understood the problem, he started to sort it out. C asked A, "why do you want to open the window?" A replied, "I need fresh air." C turned to B, "Why do you want to keep it closed?" B was a bit irritated, "can't you see that I am sitting near the window? I can't bare the hot Sun rays falling directly upon me." Both A & B have their justifications. C became CREATIVE to come to a compromise between them. C suggested,"okay, now, you have only one window in this small room. See, the windows in the next room are open. So, if you keep the doors open A will get fresh air from the next room and B won't be disturbed by hot Sun rays. Right?"
Both A & B agreed and were happy.
So to be creative means to react in full awareness of the situation with compassion/empathy.

Nature has embellished human beings with such qualities of mind & body.
Observe them,
Realize them,
Cultivate them, 
For a qualitative & peaceful life..!

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Have you ever faced the question, 'What is success for you'? Have you ever thought about it?

The definition of success varies from person to person. Each one follows the personal idea of success, shaped knowingly/unknowingly by his/her own experience and self awareness. My personal concept of success is imperative to me. I keep it fondly. I keep it proudly. Generally what others judge about it is not much important to most of the people.

There is no surprise, if a child believes that getting him/her a chocolate everyday is success for him/her. If a grown up man thinks in the same manner, it would be assessed as silly thought, unless he is a diabetic patient. If that man thinks that I am successful when I become an MLA/MP, people appreciate it. People check very rarely whether he wants to become MLA/MP for truly serving the people or to acquire a lot of wealth. His personal concept of success is very significant for him, Whether he really wants to serve the people or he pretends like that for being rich. If he is a hypocrite/pretending person, there is a chance he may lose his position very soon, because his electoral circle can understand the truth very easily. So when he pretends or acts or cheats, the success he gained through the act of treachery is not stable. It is only a temporary success. And when we observe deeply, we realize that it is not even a success. Because he can never escape from his own pricking conscience. No human being has a safe evasion from the judgment of his/her conscience. That is the way of Nature. He might not be aware of this fact in the beginning. He experiences it as a series of befallen unhappy incidents around him which destroys his peace of mind. Actually one of the main reasons for disturbing his peace of mind is nothing but his pricking conscience. He has not taken it into consideration. He is focused upon 'his success', to become rich and rich through pretending as serving the people. Gradually he loses sound sleep and becomes physically/mentally sick. When we assess such a situation we can understand that what he thought as his success is not a success at all. It was success temporarily. In the long run, it was proved that it was an act of failure. It was not permanent success.

We must examine the nature of our concept about success. Am I following the dream of a permanent success? Am I following the idea of a temporary success? Am I following an illusion as success?

Where should I examine? How can I examine this fact?

Just sit for a while, silent and introspecting. Turn towards yourself and look deep into your thoughts. Try to see for yourself, truly and sincerely.. Ask yourself, am I following the idea of a permanent success? Am I satisfying my conscience for good? Am I listening to myself..?

Trust yourself, if you meet your conscience deep inside you, your conscience can never cheat you.. Make sure that you are meeting your conscience, but not the chattering inner habits are persuading you. When you hear the words inside you, try to understand them separately, to know where they come from. If you recognize your conscience internally, It can never misrepresent you.. It can never betray you.. Follow It's suggestions, your conscience will lead you to permanent success and ever lasting happiness and peace.. 

Admit it, your conscience is your best friend!

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Have you ever waited for a moment to listen to your inner chattering?

Just stop your activities for a while and sit calmly. Try to listen to your inner voice. You will start hearing somebody throwing endless words from your inner yard.
Are you pleased with the words received from the inner world? Are you disturbed with them? Please do not try to judge them. Just listen to the words. Slowly try to understand the real meaning of those words..
They come from your habits.. Your habit of loving, habit of competing, habit of possessing, habit of worrying, habit of blaming.. The moment you realizing the nature of the habit, it transforms and stops chattering. Your realization brings a special kind of silence inside you.. Silence with perfect attention! Jiddu Krishnamurti says that the chattering habits are like thieves. The moment you switch on the light of inner vision, they run away. They simply can't stand the power of awareness.

Just be aware of the inner chattering to get rid of them.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

DISH DASH DOSH

Monday, 17 March 2014

It is necessary to have self inquiry system for an individual for keeping a clean and clear self. Action, words and thoughts must be checked continuously. An easy, short and tested method for self inquiry is given bellow.

The acronym-s (A word formed from the first letters of a series of words) are useful to remember a number of words in order for using during the occasions of self inquiry. The letters in an acronym should be kept in mind and the one who meditates must move consciously from one letter to the other reading each one with a keen and interpretative mind. Each word must be looked upon closely so that its meaning must provide a chain of related knowledge and memories. This helps the self-inquirer to pass through a vast area inside her/him. The right knowledge of how to use an acronym is necessary.

The acronym given here covers all important areas in the consciousness to be checked at least once a day. If you do the inquiry three times a day, that is very much effective and powerful for cleaning the thoughts and actions.

 Design DISH,  Check DASH and  Encourage DOSH

Design Diet, Design Interactions, Design Sex, Design Hobby.
Check Desire, Check Anger, Check Selfishness, Check Hatred.
Encourage Discrimination, Encourage Organizing habit, Encourage Stability, Encourage Harmony.