:lol: :lol: :lol:
lol: :lol:
Dear Avalok and Satya,
"Emotional stability" and "Ability to bear and accept constructive criticism" are going to become extremely important personality traits in coming days.
When I commented on Sachin Tendulkar, there is some disturbance in you people. I did not deviate from the subect. How, I will explain later. Coming to Sachin Tendulkar, I love Selfish people. There is some inclination in many people to assume "moral high ground" by talking about lofty idealism, and people like Gandhi, Mandela, Budhdha, Ramana Maharshi etc.
That is why when I say, Sachin Tendulkar plays for his records there is some emotional outburst out there.
But my perception about Selfish people is different. I love Selfish people because they are also sources of creativity and productivity.
In one one day international game, India was 13/3. Sachin came and scored a century and when he left the field the score was 200/4. Whether he played for the country or for his own image does not matter as long as his contribution made a positive difference to the score.
That is how selfish people too contribute towards the productivity in organizations. With what motive they work is immaterial for us, as long as their work results into some output. In that context I have taken the name of Sachin Tendulkar. Hence I have not deviated from the subject.
Now coming to the issue of happiness, I don’t entirely agree with Ramana Maharshi’s views. Spirituality depends as much on Materialism, as much as Materialism depends on Spirituality. If all people become Yogis, and start living in forests then we would not have had Tajmahal and Eiffel Tower in our world. Passion, desire and selfishness are not enemies of true Spiritual leaders.
If any woman comes to me saying, “I am unhappy….I want to be happy….suggest me how to be happy…” then I will ask her, “what makes you happy” instead of giving spiritual discourses. If she says, “I need a Luxurious house” that makes me happy. I will explore by asking, “tell me the truth why do you want a Luxurious house”. If she says, “One of my relatives has it…” then I will get the idea that she is jealous of her relative’s house that is why she wants to possess it too.
Without “inquiry” no one can self-realize, no one can help others to self-realize. Without self-realization, no one can be happy. Many people don’t want to reveal the true reasons for their suffering. That makes their lives miserable. If a woman is open enough she will disclose to the extent of saying, “As I don’t have a luxurious house or a luxury car…I am unhappy….”. To admit that itself requires great deal of honesty. On further inquiry if she reveals that, because my cousin has a luxury car or luxurious house, I too want it, but I can’t afford it, then that is outstanding achievement for both the spiritual leader and the woman.
The woman may be jealous or there could be some other reason for her desire to own a luxurious house. But without inquiry, no one can find out the source of suffering and without knowing the source of suffering no one can know the source of happiness.
Read what Mark has written in his Psychometry write up yesterday that is appearing in our discussions:
(Quote) All we really need to know about psychology is this. The way we feel affects the way we think. What we think directs our behaviour. How we behave and the way others behave towards us affects the way we feel. This feeling – thinking – behaviour cycle was described by Galen almost 2000 years ago. It seems the smartest animal on Earth can sometimes be awfully slow to learn. (Unquote)
The woman if she is jealous about her relative possessing a luxurious house, she can’t be happy once she goes back home. She will be happy, as long as she will be in the presence of Swamiji. Once she goes back home the comparisons between her status and her relative’s status will again start haunting her and she will again go back to her old moods.
That is why I will not give any ready made spiritual discourse to anyone without “proper inquiry” into their state of mind.
Now, having known the problem, there are two ways of addressing it.
I would not tell her, “Desire is the root cause of suffering….if you don’t have desire…then you don’t have suffering….” like Budhdha or Ramana Maharshi.
I will ask her, “Are you capable of making money and constructing a luxurious house?”. If the answer is yes. Then I will suggest her to be on the job to earn money. If she is not capable of earning money, then we have to give spiritual discourse to her. That does not mean Spirituality is meant for incapable people/people who fail in the path of materialism.
I told in the beginning that Spirituality depends on Materialism as much as Materialism depends on Spirituality. It is Nature’s Dharma that some people have to practice spirituality and some people have to produce goods and lend their services to mankind. Without material being produced no Swamiji can have big buildings, auditoriums to give lectures on Spirituality. And Desire in human beings motivate them to work, and that work produces material (wealth).
Hence, there is nothing wrong in having a desire. One must pursue one’s desires with interest and passion. And enjoy the process of fulfilling those desires. Spiritual people carry the tendency to treat these personality traits as some kind of crime or sin on the part of people who possess them. But I view Selfish people too with same level of compassion and gratitude as I view unselfish people, because if they are selfish about their Material pursuits, we are selfish about our Moral high ground and Spiritual pursuits. There is not much difference between us and them.
We need not look at those poor “Selfish creatures” like Sachin Tendulkar and the Woman I mentioned above with sympathy as if to suggest they don’t know what we know. Nor should we presume that Sachin Tendulkar must be having a mindset of some Mother Theresa or Jesus Christ. Sachin Tendulkar need not possess the mindset of Jesus Christ in order to score Centuries. It is OK for me, to accept him, even if he is selfish about himself and his desire to score centuries and play for his own records, contribute to the Indian Score.
I don’t know anything about Hitler and Mussolini, regarding Kauravas my opinion is that they are perfect team players, they sacrificed their lives for the glory of each other. They got defeated in the battle of Kurukshetra for different reasons not because they were not good team players. Dharma was not on their side. That was the main reason why they lost the War.
There’s nothing permanent about Mind’s vagaries. Good thoughts, Bad thoughts occur like waves coming to the sea-shore from the depths of an Ocean. Hence I don’t categorize people or human beings as two groups, viz., selfish people or unselfish people. When we are in a loving mood, everybody appears lovable to us and we tend to appear unselfish. But after some time (an hour or a day) the bad thoughts start impacting our minds, and we start viewing everybody around with suspicion as though they are acting selfishly with us. Our feelings influence the behavior and reactions of others, as much as the feelings and motivations of others, influence our feelings and behavior.
How to be happy is not in our hands, as long as we don’t realize what impacts our psyche. Some people derive happiness by being selfish, and some people derive happiness by being unselfish. The same person may feel happy by being selfish sometime, and be happy by being unselfish some other time. It is not necessary that one be strictly unselfish in order to be happy.
Thanks and regards
Chandrasekhar
lol: :lol:
Dear Avalok and Satya,
"Emotional stability" and "Ability to bear and accept constructive criticism" are going to become extremely important personality traits in coming days.
When I commented on Sachin Tendulkar, there is some disturbance in you people. I did not deviate from the subect. How, I will explain later. Coming to Sachin Tendulkar, I love Selfish people. There is some inclination in many people to assume "moral high ground" by talking about lofty idealism, and people like Gandhi, Mandela, Budhdha, Ramana Maharshi etc.
That is why when I say, Sachin Tendulkar plays for his records there is some emotional outburst out there.
But my perception about Selfish people is different. I love Selfish people because they are also sources of creativity and productivity.
In one one day international game, India was 13/3. Sachin came and scored a century and when he left the field the score was 200/4. Whether he played for the country or for his own image does not matter as long as his contribution made a positive difference to the score.
That is how selfish people too contribute towards the productivity in organizations. With what motive they work is immaterial for us, as long as their work results into some output. In that context I have taken the name of Sachin Tendulkar. Hence I have not deviated from the subject.
Now coming to the issue of happiness, I don’t entirely agree with Ramana Maharshi’s views. Spirituality depends as much on Materialism, as much as Materialism depends on Spirituality. If all people become Yogis, and start living in forests then we would not have had Tajmahal and Eiffel Tower in our world. Passion, desire and selfishness are not enemies of true Spiritual leaders.
If any woman comes to me saying, “I am unhappy….I want to be happy….suggest me how to be happy…” then I will ask her, “what makes you happy” instead of giving spiritual discourses. If she says, “I need a Luxurious house” that makes me happy. I will explore by asking, “tell me the truth why do you want a Luxurious house”. If she says, “One of my relatives has it…” then I will get the idea that she is jealous of her relative’s house that is why she wants to possess it too.
Without “inquiry” no one can self-realize, no one can help others to self-realize. Without self-realization, no one can be happy. Many people don’t want to reveal the true reasons for their suffering. That makes their lives miserable. If a woman is open enough she will disclose to the extent of saying, “As I don’t have a luxurious house or a luxury car…I am unhappy….”. To admit that itself requires great deal of honesty. On further inquiry if she reveals that, because my cousin has a luxury car or luxurious house, I too want it, but I can’t afford it, then that is outstanding achievement for both the spiritual leader and the woman.
The woman may be jealous or there could be some other reason for her desire to own a luxurious house. But without inquiry, no one can find out the source of suffering and without knowing the source of suffering no one can know the source of happiness.
Read what Mark has written in his Psychometry write up yesterday that is appearing in our discussions:
(Quote) All we really need to know about psychology is this. The way we feel affects the way we think. What we think directs our behaviour. How we behave and the way others behave towards us affects the way we feel. This feeling – thinking – behaviour cycle was described by Galen almost 2000 years ago. It seems the smartest animal on Earth can sometimes be awfully slow to learn. (Unquote)
The woman if she is jealous about her relative possessing a luxurious house, she can’t be happy once she goes back home. She will be happy, as long as she will be in the presence of Swamiji. Once she goes back home the comparisons between her status and her relative’s status will again start haunting her and she will again go back to her old moods.
That is why I will not give any ready made spiritual discourse to anyone without “proper inquiry” into their state of mind.
Now, having known the problem, there are two ways of addressing it.
I would not tell her, “Desire is the root cause of suffering….if you don’t have desire…then you don’t have suffering….” like Budhdha or Ramana Maharshi.
I will ask her, “Are you capable of making money and constructing a luxurious house?”. If the answer is yes. Then I will suggest her to be on the job to earn money. If she is not capable of earning money, then we have to give spiritual discourse to her. That does not mean Spirituality is meant for incapable people/people who fail in the path of materialism.
I told in the beginning that Spirituality depends on Materialism as much as Materialism depends on Spirituality. It is Nature’s Dharma that some people have to practice spirituality and some people have to produce goods and lend their services to mankind. Without material being produced no Swamiji can have big buildings, auditoriums to give lectures on Spirituality. And Desire in human beings motivate them to work, and that work produces material (wealth).
Hence, there is nothing wrong in having a desire. One must pursue one’s desires with interest and passion. And enjoy the process of fulfilling those desires. Spiritual people carry the tendency to treat these personality traits as some kind of crime or sin on the part of people who possess them. But I view Selfish people too with same level of compassion and gratitude as I view unselfish people, because if they are selfish about their Material pursuits, we are selfish about our Moral high ground and Spiritual pursuits. There is not much difference between us and them.
We need not look at those poor “Selfish creatures” like Sachin Tendulkar and the Woman I mentioned above with sympathy as if to suggest they don’t know what we know. Nor should we presume that Sachin Tendulkar must be having a mindset of some Mother Theresa or Jesus Christ. Sachin Tendulkar need not possess the mindset of Jesus Christ in order to score Centuries. It is OK for me, to accept him, even if he is selfish about himself and his desire to score centuries and play for his own records, contribute to the Indian Score.
I don’t know anything about Hitler and Mussolini, regarding Kauravas my opinion is that they are perfect team players, they sacrificed their lives for the glory of each other. They got defeated in the battle of Kurukshetra for different reasons not because they were not good team players. Dharma was not on their side. That was the main reason why they lost the War.
There’s nothing permanent about Mind’s vagaries. Good thoughts, Bad thoughts occur like waves coming to the sea-shore from the depths of an Ocean. Hence I don’t categorize people or human beings as two groups, viz., selfish people or unselfish people. When we are in a loving mood, everybody appears lovable to us and we tend to appear unselfish. But after some time (an hour or a day) the bad thoughts start impacting our minds, and we start viewing everybody around with suspicion as though they are acting selfishly with us. Our feelings influence the behavior and reactions of others, as much as the feelings and motivations of others, influence our feelings and behavior.
How to be happy is not in our hands, as long as we don’t realize what impacts our psyche. Some people derive happiness by being selfish, and some people derive happiness by being unselfish. The same person may feel happy by being selfish sometime, and be happy by being unselfish some other time. It is not necessary that one be strictly unselfish in order to be happy.
Thanks and regards
Chandrasekhar