Swamy Saram Ayappa Saram
"I am impressed"
Here is the link to the video I am referring to in this blog...
Click Here
I have undertaken a vow (Viradam for Lord Ayappa) for 41 days for various reasons. 41 days - I am supposed to think good thoughts, words and actions. So I decided to not read or listen to my books except a few with my own rationale as what can be considered beyond.
After a very long I felt 'connected', 'blessed' and smiled a lot. This was due to the fact that I was listening to folks from Ramakrishna Mutt my favourite religious order and these new age - facebook,whatsapp,mobile phone referring monks who have powerpoint,jokes and facts for new generation and an indepth understanding on Hindu Scriptures.
So I decided to listen to these lectures from Ramakrishna Mutt folks as opposed to TED Talks ! But guess what - the new age monks of India refer to TED talks as much as I like them to!
The talks were held in IIT Kanpur - another institute I respect and always envy!
Think about Intelligence meeting Spirituality!
IIT Kanpur holding talks from RamaKrishna Mutt.
When I was in my college BITS Pilani we had ISKON monks who came with Powepoints from Bhagavat Gita and lectured/argued about - Is light a way or a particle? They were referring to passages from Bhagavat Gita and I don't recall the conclusion.
Do you know if Light is a way or a particle?
Lots of physics scientist have worked on it and there is a conclusion guided by Einstein which said something like ' Both the realities are right? . Sometimes light is a particle and at other time light is a wave .
If there is confusion about light - something we see everyday then what about being enlightened?
Reaching God? There must be more complex theory to help us with this .
For now it will be interesting to note that there are 4 ways to reach god (according to yet another holy text of Hindus -Upanishads )
Raja Yoga(Meditation) - the branch that Buddhist like and have included in their religious practice.
Gnanaa Yoga(Knowledge) - I named my blog inspired that useful Knowledge that can be acted upon must be shared and for some they can reach my posts and attain divinity! My posts are so enlightening (at least to me!) but you will not attain GOD reading my posts.
Karma Yoga(Duty and Action) - Just do your stuff - what ever you are supposed to do. There is no need to think about God but there is also need
not to think about the fruits of the efforts and thanklessness from other people you serve or you think you serve.
Bhakti Yoga(Devotion) - Praying on a constant basis and praying in groups. Habits! - reinforced by a group . Islam has lot of this aspects into its practice. Buddhist like 'Sangam' and Christians have Sunday 'Mass';
Note -
Raja Yoga and Bhakti Yoga needs GOD attain salvation.
KarmaYoga and GnanaaYoga don't need GOD to attain salvation.
What is attaining salvation mean ?( you guessed it. I will write another post later once I learn what it means!)
You don't need GOD for Raja Yoga(meditation) and Karma Yoga(Duty).
For Gnaanayoga you have pick up Tohrah or Koran or Bible or Infinite Hindu scripts including Bhagat Gita, Upanishads(vedanta are explanation to Upanishad!),Vedas as you will need a text to read and all these text will have GOD in it (mostly as a male).
For Bhakti Yoga you need a place to workship and a group and you will end up with GOD in it.
I will write a separate blog about Bhakthi Yoga.
Let's get back to Decision Theory (after few more side tracks distractions and brain dumps!)
Humans need 21 days to form a habit and 14 days to break a habit.
So in 41/41 days I can effectively create 2 habits. I can break 3 habits.
Wow that means I can have impact on 5 impacts.
So I am up for a challenge.
New habits to be created
1. Start Waking up early - 1 Habit to be create
2. Start Meditating/receiting mantras 2 times a day- 1 habit to create
Break the following habits
1. Stop Eating fast
2. Stop Getting angry
3. Stop sleeping late (This ties with start waking up early!. To wake up late you need to sleep early)
Making Habits, Breaking Habits: Why We Do Things, Why We Don’t, and How to Make Any Change Stick (public library) — A book I liked a lot is the onne with this idea and many many more important Ones.
Now coming to back to my other blog - Do you know how to tell a story?
Refer to my Blog
Here is the interesting part always every story needs a decision - DECISION.
The main character needs to decide - enough is enough I want to create this or Destroy/Stop that.
STOP or START or CONTINUE something!
To create a habit you need to make a DECISION. Now another book that comes to my mind and a book that I bought (Finally!) is Kelly McGonigal's The WillPower Instinct. This book talks about something which I love -
Imagine This
Joe and Rajeev decide to wake up every day at 5am and set their alarm in the night. These characters are called Planning Joe and Planning Rajeev. Nice people with noble intentions. They go to sleep and at 5 am the 2 people who are sleeping comfortably are Executing Joe and Executing Rajeev.
These are not the same people who set the alarm even though they occupy the same body!.
Interesting - how come? Planning Soul and Executing Soul are different people and our friends hit the snooze and decide they will do it TOMORROW!
Gauri Nanda - a gradudate student in MIT worked on this problem and came up with a cloack - Clocky!
The alarm will set off in the morning and run away literally making you go mouse chase/hunt - hunting the clock.
Now what does this have to do with a Monk talking in IIT? What would he know about decision theory?
I felt like slap on the face when he introduced this concept with such an elegant concept from Katha Upanishad.
He asked a student to decide between A or B.
The student promptly chose A.(and thought they decided on A)
The monk said this is not deciding.
Follow along--- fellows.
When you chose A that is not called DECISION that is more like choosing.
His talks were inline with major Generals who have won major battles - a chinese general and Cortez share the same story.The General asked his soldiers and in some version he himself set fire to all his ships telling his ships there is no way to go home now. Kill ,capture or die. If you kill or capture the enemy you can build a ship using them (using their help if they have agreed or enslave and make them work for you to build a ship to go home!)
That is DECISION.
Do you understand? When you choose A that is called choosing when you chose A and declare that B is not a viable option then you have ended up with a decision.
Now if you think about waking up early in the morning - the planner choses to getup at 5am and at that time if he decides he needs to let himself know that not waking up is not an option. It is a decision and not a choice. When this is explained clearly the Executer when he wakes up knows that he knows he doesnt have a choice but a decision. So he will not hit the snooze button and wake up.
Now you know - what is deciding.!
Declare that the other choice or choices have been abandoned. This helps provide clarity and determination and the Person inbetween planner and executer is the one that is the real 'YOU'. It is 'You' who decides and 'You' who needs to clarify both the planner and executor the course of action.
Now tonight when you set your alarm you know what to do? When your hand goes closer to snooze button at 5 am then you know that this is not a choice but a decision and abandon this act of snooze and wake up.
DECISION is not to select but to Cut - cut off the other option (s) is what Swami Sarvapriyananda says comes from Upanishads.
Now that you woke up early in the morning think about what Swamy Vivekananda said
Arise, Awake and Stop not till your goal is reached
What is your GOAL?
Let's talk about that in the next post
Keep waking up early
Sivakumar Manikanteswaran
