Work minus the stress

Stress arises when :
a) one does not do one's duty;
b) one is worried about the results;
c) one is concerned about the 'I' who one thinks is responsible for the results;
d) a,b & c.

The key to success in one's work is:
i) performing duty with perfection in execution - you are giving your best shot
ii) without attachment to the very act itself - 'I' am not the doer
iii) and without worrying about the results - i) and ii) will take care of it.

Everything else will follow.

'Om' in a 'coffee'-cup!

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit Thiruvannamalai (the temple, Shri Ramanashramam) and Pondicherry (Shri Aurobindo Ashramam).I was having a cold coffee (sans sugar,of course!) at a beachside cafe in Pondicherry when I noticed a familiar shape that had taken its form on the interior part of the cup.Picture given below. Even the 'chandrakala' has not been missed out! Have a look :)

On the path.

Recently, I was reading the anniversary issue of Life Positive,a magazine centred on spirituality.It had several articles by people on how they came to the spiritual path and the experiences they had.

I found it interesting that I was able to relate many of these experiences.Thought of penning down my personal experience here.

Once you are on the path,you begin to do things that sometimes might be difficult to reason or explain to others. I always had a spiritual bent,but there was no compelling reason for me to wake up one Sunday morning seven years back and declare that I have turned vegetarian,a shock to many who know me as one who could not make it through lunch without a fair share of 'military' food. And yet another day, I stopped using sugar in my coffee; started abhorring leather products; became a minimalist in my needs and purchases;stopped using synthetic products; and a whole host of things that many take for granted.

Though this might sound/look extreme, the joy that the path opens up in you is unparalleled.

So are you on the path? Please share!

Imagine there is no time ahead of you.

That very thought is enough to make you shake off laziness and drive your energies towards your duty and the process of realizing the self.

Enjoy the present moment to the fullest thinking this is your only moment.

Awareness is everything.

Doing one's duty without worrying about the results, facing the obstacles that come along the way with courage and keeping the mind far above the tremors of its continuous agitation and understanding that the ultimate goal in life is to attain self-realization; this is the recipe for leading one's life.

Simple as it sounds,it is difficult to practice these principles in our earthly existence. And the key to making it work is constant awareness. Becoming aware of your supreme purpose in any situation - however good or bad - is the secret to transcending it and going beyond that momentary situation or emotion. Before your bigger purpose and goal, these situations and emotions are minions. Awareness of your ultimate goal is the giant fire that can destroy any situation or emotion without getting consumed with it.

So have you kindled the fire of awareness within you? Make sure you keep it burning with inner determination as the fuel.

How strongly are you anchored...internally?

Have you seen people who are completely wrecked,emotionally?

The reason for this emotional turmoil is that most people look for an external anchor to hold on to. One becomes subject to the ebbs and flows of this external anchor,thereby identifying oneself with it and in the process, forgetting one's true nature.

Only by anchoring oneself internally can a person remain unaffected by the constant change in the depth and fleeting nature of external relationships. Once comfortable with this internal anchoring,a person will be able to handle external relationships with the ease and detachment required to keep oneself totally unaffected.

Relying on external relationships without this internal anchoring is a sure-shot path to emotional wreckage.

Be peace at one's true self first and then one will be at true peace with others.Thereby,one can manage relationships effectively without getting tied to them.

The Mind is the enemy

The mind - all good thoughts and bad ones, wrong notions and unfounded fears, aspirations and desires - float here. The mind never sets you free. It puts you on a roller-coaster ride that never ends. It is this agitated ocean - so restless that if left unchecked, it becomes your greatest enemy.

Take this fellow to task. Each time he taunts you, stare directly back at him and put him back in his place,observe all those thoughts peacefully and let that awareness make you look at them objectively to the extent that they dissolve and melt away.Be dispassionate in this observation process; when you observe, you must not look at them as 'good' or 'bad' thoughts, but just thoughts. And then you will see that,without any effort, they go away.

And when these thoughts go away,thats when your mind attains this deep calmness and peace that is your true nature.Through constant meditation of this kind, you learn to maintain this peaceful state.