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My Tryst with my Breath (3)

Apr 20th, 2022
by Raj.
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What is the toughest thing for a human to achieve and the easiest that an animal does? The first time I asked this question to that dull throbbing head of mine, the answer brought a grin to the face. Quite obvious answer, isn’t it? The animal excretes anywhere and at any time! Jokes apart, this question kept haunting me for a while as sleep finally brought about the silence that my mind was so obviously seeking.

The morning brought me the answer. It was the ability to let go. Let go of what one learnt, what one was taught and what one accepted as the norm in one’s formative years. Because, till one empties the vessel (the brain), there’s no way fresh stuff can go in. And every attempt at forcing new ideas either results in an overflow or an internal duel between what one is and what one thinks that one is.

And so it was that I finally let go of my prejudices, my perspectives and my opinions. And in doing so the chatter within seemed to quieten down. It did not stop. Nonetheless, it became interspersed with thoughtlessness. For the first time I experienced total silence. The sort that one encounters moments before one falls asleep. For, I recall that at most times I wake up recalling a dream or an internal conversation but seldom recall that final thought before I enter that beautiful realm of thoughtlessness that one associates with sleep.

Thus began my tryst with my breathing. That single activity in our body which is both voluntary and involuntary. We can stop breathing (for a few seconds) but we seldom become aware of it as we journey through our days. Come to think of it, there are several activities within our bodies that happen without our knowledge all the time, but those aren’t really in our control, even for a few seconds.

What occurred during the rest of my journey on the Vipassana trail is best kept to myself as my path is my own and in no way should it influence that of another. The Enlightened One brought this up in his teachings that underscored the uniqueness of every human and ensured that no two journeys are ever the same. Suffice to say that there was a tumult in my life as I went through this journey which gave me the biggest gift of my life – Silence.

(Concluded)

Bhavatu Savva Mangalam

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My Journey Isn’t Your’s

Aug 19th, 2020
by Raj.
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I came across a story about Gautama, the Buddha. During his wide travels spreading the message of Dhamma, the master chanced upon a young man who arrived early for his talks. Finding the Buddha alone, he sidled up and asked if it was okay to ask a question, as he was shy of doing so in a crowd.

Who’s Driving Your Bus?

The ever-compassionate Buddha complied and the student said thus: “You are teaching us techniques and giving us tools to find Nirvana. Now, I want to know why you aren’t using your own achievements as the liberated one to work the miracle and liberate us? Because you also know how tough it is for the rest of us to be like you. So, help us please.”

Buddha smiled and said, “Let’s try right away. But, before that I want to know if you belong to this place?” The man answered in the affirmative. He said he belonged to Bangalore (purely as an e.g.). Now, the master asked, “So you are from this place only, not having roots elsewhere?” To this the man said, “No, no, I am from Palakkad in Kerala, and I still have interests there.”

The conversation continued: “So, you would be traveling to that place quite regularly, isn’t it? Do you know the route from Bangalore to Palakkad well,” asked the Buddha. “Of course master, I know it well enough as I travel once or twice a month. See, I can tell you the route: You head out of home, reach MG Road and get on to Hosur Road. Drive on till Krishnagiri on that road and then take a right turn and go straight on till Salem. At Salem, you take a right to the road leading to Coimbatore and once you cross this city, you enter Palakkad. See, I am well-versed with this path.

“I am sure that you love this place a lot and would have taken many of your friends from Bangalore to Palakkad,” the enlightened one said. “Of course, I have and they all loved the place,” said the man, now wondering where this conversation was going.

Which means your friends would also know Palakkad as well as you do, right? the Buddha asked, to which the man said, “Of course not! When they came with me, I led the way. How will they know the route if they don’t make the journey on their own?” he asked with a tinge of exasperation.

“Precisely my friend,” Buddha said, “all I can do is take you on my journey but if you require true salvation, you need to follow your journey. And the tools and techniques that I share would only help you navigate your course. So, even if I miraculously take you to my destination, you may realise that it was not where you wanted to go.”

A true teacher is one who walks along and not ahead of the pupil. And a true follower is one who follows their instinct after accumulating what they learnt from others’ journeys.

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Posted in: Philosophy of Life.

Finding the Right App Within

Aug 19th, 2020
by Raj.
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Smartphones have been our companions for more than a decade-and-half and yet, none of us can justifiably claim that we know the different devices we may have owned during this period inside out. Why so? Because there’s only that much of it that we need to get through our days.

External Recommendations versus Internal Awareness

This is exactly how we deal with our own internal resources. There are any number of such resources within us, quietly biding time till…? Well, barring a few internal resources that we use all the time, there are any number that exist deep within us, waiting to be called upon to help us – maybe overcome a challenge or tide us through a tough phase.

Internal resources such as humour, creativity, energy, enthusiasm, patience, self-esteem, empathy, equanimity, trust, freedom and many more have been part of our existence from birth. Unaware of their existence, we seek these virtues outside of us, just like we keep adding more apps to our phones in the hope that the additional ones would be of more use than existing ones.

However, the irony is that each time we look outwards for a new resource, we push our existing ones a step down in our awareness. And then blame it on factors outside if we get impatient, or miss the humour or the creativity that might generate better outcomes to life’s challenges than a dogmatic response did.

Hark back to your childhood for a moment and recall events where you used these internal resources in abundance and to telling effect. How did you convince mom to feed you an extra chocolate or get dad to pay up for that excursion that you called a study tour? And yet, now these same resources seem distant. We look outside of us to rekindle these resources. Or seek outside help to resolve challenges that we were adept at doing.

And what causes this amnesia? Quite simply our nature our looking outside of us for solutions. We keep collecting apps from Play Store and seldom use it after the first few attempts. Our resources too are lying unused because our attention gets diverted to the new magic solution that smart advertisers promote regularly.

Each one of us is born with the power of the unconscious – the thread which ties all of us to Universal Source of Power. Looking for more power outside is what reduces the power within. Or I should say reduces our attention to the power within. Have a blessed day!

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Posted in: Coaching, Philosophy of Life.

Being Compassionate with Oneself

Jul 27th, 2020
by Raj.
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The current situation that we are all going through makes most of us feel anxious and uncertain. Not surprising, given that none of us has ever faced such a situation in our lives. The answer lies in being compassionate with oneself.

Wave after wave rushing in, crashes and returns to the depths

On a recent visit to the seaside, I found myself standing on the shores, marvelling at the monotonous regularity with which waves came in and receded. They made way for the next wave, and the next, each following exactly the same pattern. For a crazy moment, I wondered how I would feel being a wave?

I closed my eyes and imagined myself originating from the depths of the ocean, rising to the top in some quest, only to reach the shore and break. Crash into it, in fact, and losing my energy in the process and silently receding to the very depths that I came from. I felt a heaviness in my chest and a tightening of the stomach. What sort of a life is this? Wave after wave gets formed, only to crash into nothingness.

I thought of my own existence and became aware of how all anxieties and pains were episodes in this journey. I am born, grow up and gather speed to reach the top. However, like that wave, I rush towards the shore, only to crash and then recede into the nothingness from which I emerged. That tightening of the chest and stomach returned.

Having spent a few moments, I came back to my room, more confused. Was life so predictable? If so, what’s the point of it all? The heaviness in my chest stayed on and I allowed it to do so. Slowly I opened a book of Sufi quotes and came across one from the 13th century poet Jalaluddin Rumi:

“You’re not a drop in the ocean; You’re the entire ocean in a drop.”

I read and re-read it a few times and felt the heaviness slowly vanish and the tightness in the stomach giving way to an ease. Staying on with it, I wondered thus: Why should I see myself as a wave when my true identity is that of the ocean? For, if there is no ocean, there wouldn’t be a wave. And without the waves, there would be no ocean.

So long as I exist in my current form, there will be episodes in the journey that alternate between pleasure or pain as I go inexorably towards the shore. The impermanence of it all dawned and my feeling of ease deepened.

Advaita (non-duality) Explained

Do I really need to put pressure on myself each and every time a painful situation came up? For, these situations are so much more impermanent than my life itself.

Because I am as much the ocean as the wave.

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Happiness and Achievement

Jul 26th, 2020
by Raj.
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If happiness is only about winning or achieving a desired outcome, it would become very momentary and largely ineffective

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal – Two modern tennis greats
whose on-court duels are as legendary as their off-court camaraderie

As a person who played active sports, I remember all the encounters that resulted in a victory. Quite a natural feeling, given that we all play to win. What surprised me though is that even matches where we lost there was only a momentary angst that was followed by exhilaration at the thought of having played that game. 

At first I thought it was just me and my fantasy. When I spoke to some of my old chums who were part of these games, they said even they’d felt the same way – then and even now when they recall the matches. I couldn’t put a finger on what made all of us feel the same way, least of all me as I was always a very angry competitor. 

Where did all that anger go once the game got over? Quite simply, it went no where because it didn’t exist deep down. The desire to do well was a burning one. Yet, losing only reinvigorated the desire. Never did it result in rancour towards the winners. It was a resolve to do better the next time that brought back that anger energy again. 

As I harked back to my sporting wins and loses, I also became aware that the excitement at participating was paramount. Just because the outcome didn’t match with my expectation, doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the journey. 

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।

मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भुर्मा ते संगोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥

— Bhagavad Gita, Ch:2, Verse 47
A Call to Glorious Action

And, the meaning of these lines from the Bhagavad Gita’s became that bit more clearer.

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Teaching and Touching Lives

Jul 24th, 2020
by Raj.
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The teacher starts touching lives once they step down from their own high pedestals 

Image courtesy: inc.com

My friend Leo often says that a teacher is one who touches lives. And each time I wonder what it means and how is it that I hardly remember many of my teachers. And the one I do was amongst the most reticent teachers that I could recall. 

This lady in question was a spinster, extremely strict and super stingy with the marks she would give. And yet, I remember her fondly, just for one incident. She was laughing uncontrollably while listening to my essay on a bus journey that was anecdotal and not as per the format that she had suggested. Once I finished reading, she stood up and told me, “Your courage to step out of the box will help you.” 

When I hark back to this incident, I still get goose bumps. Not because I received praise or didn’t get punished. I realised that a good teacher is one who allows her wards to go beyond her realm – to explore their own boundaries without getting tied down by rules or norms. 

And to do so, she needs to let go of the teacher-pupil mindset. The equation is one of two individuals and not of a preacher and preached to. That’s when I realised that a good teacher is one who protects the student from her own influence. 

And that’s how she touched my life, and continues to do so even four decades after the incident I narrated. 

The only way a teacher can become a facilitator is when she or he takes the journey alongside the student. 

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About marketing oneself

Jul 23rd, 2020
by Raj.
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A marketing lesson I learnt early on was this: A good sales person can sell a refrigerator to an eskimo. For most of my corporate life, this had a profound impact as I was continuously looking for ways and means to sell a service or a product or even my resume. 

(Image Source: yourcoachlondon.com

Even as an executive coach, I had trained myself to observe behaviour traits that could serve as an opening gambit in my sales pitch – be it an individual or someone in the corporate hierarchy who could provide me with gainful employment. 

The more I made an effort, the farther the goal appeared to go. It was as if my hard sell approach was making it harder for my interlocutor to trust my abilities. Don’t be surprised – isn’t this what all advertisements do for us? They sell us something that we probably can live without. 

What broke this pattern was a meeting with an 82-year-old who was to teach me a new skill. Being from a corporate world, I expected to see a person in a nicely ironed trousers and shirt, if not a suit and tie. Instead I saw a man dressed in his pyjamas and a casual shirt walk in. What I did notice though were a pair of crystal blue eyes that was piercing and compassionate at the same time. 

What happened to me over the next 10 days is beyond description. As if by sheer magic, my life journey suddenly shifted from the outward to the inward – that was the power of Dr. Richard McHugh – the man who started each of our journeys with NLP. 

A journey where appearances matter the least and it is okay to be who I am.

Because, there is no way I can pretend to be another.

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Of outcomes and anxieties

Jul 22nd, 2020
by Raj.
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Being hardwired to outcomes, we often miss out the process involved in achieving them. 

Image courtesy: https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/

When I started my tryst with making videos, there was a perpetual feeling of anxiety of getting it right. I have to look at the camera, my attire has to be presentable, I must not stammer and forgetting my lines makes me look like an idiot. There’s a shadow under my nose! 

For a long time, my energies were focused on getting it right. Till one day, I asked myself, what exactly is RIGHT? At best they are opinions. Driven by context and always subjective. This proved a big liberator for me as I began focusing on the moment. 

Telling myself all the while. I am learning a new skill. So what, if none of the parameters are right. Let me just enjoy the moment, making all possible mistakes. For, what’s the worse that can happen? I may end up shooting the video again. 

And so it was that I made friends with my own anxiety. Because it was this anxiety made me aware of my ego self – a need for approval from those around me as a means to happiness. Today I feel happy that I am making these videos. Safe in the belief that I am enjoying the process of its making and not bogged down by the outcomes. 

Because the outcome isn’t about a good video itself. It is about all the good words that I come to expect from those watching it. 

And that was precisely what made me anxious.

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