Learn & Unlearn the Past

By Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

( Contributed by K.Kumar)

Every year, we begin the New Year wishing others happiness and prosperity. What is the sign of prosperity? The sign of prosperity is freedom, a smile and the willingness to share with people around you, without fear. The sign of prosperity is the trust and confidence that you will get whatever is needed in life.
Welcome the year 2009 with a smile from within. As we flip the calendar, we need to keep flipping our mind as well. Often, our diaries are full with memories. See that you don't fill your future dates with past events. Learn and unlearn from the past, and move on.You want to be free from greed, hatred, jealousy and all such imperfections. If the mind is holding all these negative qualities, it cannot be happy or peaceful – you cannot enjoy your life. So the first step is to see that negative emotions are due to the past and not let the past affect your experience of life now. Forgive the past. If you cannot forgive the past, then your future will be miserable. This new year make up with someone with whom you are not on good terms. Commit yourself to dropping the past and starting a fresh life.
When the new year arrives wish everyone with a sankalpa (intention) for peace and prosperity for all the people on the planet. With the economic meltdown, looming terrorism, with floods & famine around, do more selfless service. Realise that our foremost priority is to check violence in the world, to free the world from domestic and societal violence. Make a resolution to do more good to society, help the people who are in need and bring solace to those who are suffering. Take responsibility for the nation.
The spiritual dimension of life brings a great sense of belongingness, responsibility, compassion and caring for the whole world, for the whole humanity. The spiritual dimension in the truest form smashes the narrow boundaries of caste, creed, religion and nationality and gives one a broader awareness of life present everywhere.
This year, let your devotion flower. Give it a chance to work. We should experience the divine's presence, the divine's light around us. You should have a desire in your mind to experience this. Has such a desire ever risen in you - that you want the highest peace? The whole world is running by this divine light. When you sing or pray there should be total involvement. If the mind is preoccupied elsewhere then that is no prayer at all.
You are like a free bird. You are fully open. Feel that you are flying like a bird. Learn to fly. This is something which you have to experience within yourself. There is nothing else. If you consider yourself as bonded, you will remain bound here. Be free. When will you experience freedom? Become free right now. Sit down and become content. Spend some time in meditation & satsang so that your inner self becomes strong enough to deal with the challenges.
When the mind relaxes, the intellect becomes sharp. When the mind is loaded with small things such as ambition, feverishness and desire, then the intellect loses its keenness. And when the intellect and observation are not sharp, life does not express itself fully, ideas dont flow and abilities diminish day by day. With this understanding, step out of your little mind and that step will solve many problems in your life. Be natural. Be with love. Involve yourself in service. Celebrate your life
.............CELEBRATE NEW YEAR - 2009

Nava Rathri

The 9 Appellations of Durga

(1) Shailaputri(

2) Bharmacharini

(3) Chandra Ghanta

(4) Kushmanda

(5) Skanda Mata

(6) Katyayani

(7) Kaal Ratri

(8) Maha Gauri

(9) Siddhidatri

Nava“ that also means 'new' “ denotes 'nine' the number to which sages attach special significance. Hence, we have Nava-ratri (9nights), Nava-patrika (9 leaves / herbs / plants), Nava-graha (9 planets), and Nava-Durga (9 appellations).Here is a slide show of the 9 manifestations of Goddess Durga. Each goddess has a different form and a special significance. Nava Durga,if worshipped with religious fervor during Navaratri, it is believed, lift the divine spirit in us and fill us with renewed happiness.All the nine names of goddess are narrated in 'Devi Kavacha' of the 'Chandipatha' scripture. Learn about the nine goddesses in thefollowing slides that include beautiful watercolor paintings of each appellation.(

1) Shailaputri:Shailaputri literally means the daughter (putri) of the mountains (shaila). Variously known as Sati Bhavani, Parvati or Hemavati, thedaughter of Hemavana - the king of the Himalayas, she is the first among Navadurgas. Her worship takes place on the first day ofNavaratri “ the nine divine nights. The embodiment of the power of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, she rides a bull and carries a trident and alotus in her two hands.

(2) Bharmacharini:She is worshipped on the second day of Navaratri and is the second form of Mother Goddess. Bharmacharini means one who practices devoutausterity. She enlightens us in the magnificent embodiment of Durga with great powers and divine grace. She holds a rosary in her right hand and a water utensil in her left hand. She is blissful and endows happiness, peace, prosperity and grace upon all devotees who worshipher. Filled with bliss and happiness, she is the way to emancipation - Moksha.

(3) Chandra Ghanta:The third facet of Goddess Durga is 'Chandraghanta', who is worshipped on the third day of Navaratri, for peace, tranquility and prosperityin life. She has a 'chandra' or half moon in her forehead in the shape of a 'ghanta' or bell. That is why she is called 'Chandraghanta'. Sheis charming, has a golden bright complexion and rides a lion. She has ten hands, three eyes and holds weapons in her hands. She is theapostle of bravery and possesses great strength to fight in the battle against demons.

(4) Kushmanda:Kushmanda is the fourth form of the mother goddess and is worshipped on the fourth day of Navaratri. The meaning of the name 'Ku-shm-anda' is as follows: 'Ku' = a little; 'ushma' = 'warmth'; 'anda' = 'the cosmic egg'. So she is considered the creator of the universe. Theuniverse was no more than a void full of darkness, until her light spreads in all directions like rays from the sun. Often she is depicted as having eight or ten hands. She holds weapons, glitter, rosary, etc., in her hands, and she rides a lion.

(5) Skanda Mata:The fifth aspect of the Mother Durga is known as 'Skanda Mata' – the mother of Skanda or Lord Kartikeya, who was chosen by gods as theircommander in chief in the war against the demons. She is worshipped on the fifth day of Navaratri. She is accompanied by the Lord Skanda inhis infant form. Skanda Mata has four arms and three eyes, holds the infant Skanda in her right upper arm and a lotus in her right handwhich is slightly raised upwards. The left arm is in pose to grant boons with grace and in left lower hand which is raised also holds alotus. She has a bright complexion and often depicted as seated on a lotus.

(6) Katyayani:The sixth form of Mother Durga is known as 'Katyayani', who is worshipped on the six day of Navaratri. The legend behind her namegoes thus: Once upon a time, there was a great sage called Kata, who had a son named Katya. Kata was very famous and renowned in thelineage of saints. He underwent long austerities and penance in order to receive the grace of the Mother Goddess. He wished to have adaughter in the form of a goddess. According to his wish and desire the Mother Goddess granted his request. Katyayani was born to Kata asan avatar of Durga.

(7) Kaal Ratri:This is the seventh form of Mother Durga and is worshipped on the seventh day of Navaratri. She has a dark complexion, disheveled hairand a fearlessness posture. A necklace flashing lightning adorns her neck. She has three eyes that shine bright and terrible flames emanatefrom her breath. Her vehicle is the donkey. Her raised right hand always seems to grant boons to all worshippers and all her right lowerhand is in the pose of allaying fears. Her left upper hand holds a thorn-like weapon, made of iron and there is a dragger in the lowerleft hand. She is black like Goddess Kali and holds a sparkling sword in her right hand battle all evil. Her gesture of protection assuresus of freedom from fear and troubles. So she is also known as 'Shubhamkari' – one who does good.

(8) Maha Gauri:She is worshipped on the eighth day of Navaratri. Her power is unfailing and instantly fruitful. As a result of her worship, all sins of past, present and future get washed away and devotees get purified in all aspects of life. Maha Gauri is intelligent, peaceful and calm. Due to her long austerities in the deep forests of the Himalayas, she developed a dark complexion. When Lord Shiva cleaned her with the water of the Ganges, her body regained its beauty and she came to be known as Maha Gauri, which mean extremely white. She wears white clothes, has four arms, and rides on a bull. Her right hand is in the pose of allaying fear and her right lower hand holds a trident. The left upper hand holds a 'damaru' (a small rattle drum) and the lower one is in the pose of granting boons to her devotees.

(9) Siddhidatri:Siddhidatri is the ninth form of Goddess. She is worshipped on the ninth day of Navaratri. Siddhidatri has supernatural healing powers.She has four arms and she is always in a blissful happy enchanting pose. She rides on the lion as her vehicle. She blesses all Gods,saints, yogis, tantrics and all devotees as a manifestation of the Mother Goddess. In 'Devi Bhagvata Purana' it is mentioned that LordShiva worshipped her and was blessed with all Siddhis (supernatural powers). By her blessings his half body became female and other halfbody male in the avatar of Ardhnarishvara."Nava-Ratri" literally means "nine nights." This festival is observed twice a year, once in the beginning of summer and again at the onsetof winter.

What's the Significance of Navratri?During Navaratri, we invoke the energy aspect of God in the form of the universal mother, commonly referred to as "Durga," which literallymeans the remover of miseries of life. She is also referred to as "Devi" (goddess) or "Shakti" (energy or power). It is this energy, which helps God to proceed with the work of creation, preservation and destruction. In other words, you can say that God is motionless, absolutely changeless, and the Divine Mother Durga, does everything. Truly speaking, our worship of Shakti re-confirms the scientific theory that energy is imperishable. It cannot be created or destroyed.It is always there.Why Worship the Mother Goddess?We think this energy is only a form of the Divine Mother, who is the mother of all, and all of us are her children. "Why mother; why notfather?", you may ask. Let me just say that we believe that God's glory, his cosmic energy, his greatness and supremacy can best bedepicted as the motherhood aspect of God. Just as a child finds all these qualities in his or her mother, similarly, all of us look uponGod as mother. In fact, Hinduism is the only religion in the world, which gives so much importance to the mother aspect of God because webelieve that mother is the creative aspect of the absolute. Why Twice a Year?Every year the beginning of summer and the beginning of winter are two very important junctures of climatic change and solar influence. Thesetwo junctions have been chosen as the sacred opportunities for the worship of the divine power because:(1) We believe that it is the divine power that provides energy for the earth to move around the sun, causing the changes in the outernature and that this divine power must be thanked for maintaining the correct balance of the universe.(2) Due to the changes in the nature, the bodies and minds of people undergo a considerable change, and hence, we worship the divine powerto bestow upon all of us enough potent powers to maintain our physical and mental balance.Why Nine Nights & Days?Navaratri is divided into sets of three days to adore different aspects of the supreme goddess. On the first three days, the Mother is invoked as powerful force called Durga in order to destroy all our impurities, vices and defects. The next three days, the Mother is adored as a giver of spiritual wealth, Lakshmi, who is considered to have the power of bestowing on her devotees the inexhaustible wealth.The final set of three days is spent in worshipping the mother as the goddess of wisdom, Saraswati. In order have all-round success in life,we need the blessings of all three aspects of the divine mother; hence, the worship for nine

( THanks to KK for contributing to this)

Corporate Gandhiji

Mahatma Gandhi, not only for Munnabhai, is also revealing himself to the managers and is teaching them business strategies, inculcating ‘business ethics’. This is the new angle to Gandhism.
Name: Mohandas Karmachand Gandhi
Institution: India Incorporated
Responsibility: Chief Executive Officer (Trustee)
Goal: Total Independence.
Strategy: Truth and Non Violence
Capital: Sacrifice
Shareholders: All Indians
Managers: Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, Radhakrishnan, Ambedkar etc.
First Shareholders’ meeting: August 14th midnight 1947.
Growth Index: Gradual but upward moving

* * * * * *
To make it to the Fortune Global level
To reach billion dollar state
To provide employment to 25000 people
To become ‘multinational’
These are quite common dreams for any company and may be bigger too.
But how to realize them?
Peter Drucker, Jack Welsh, Coovey ----- such of the management gurus’ teachings will be too good to hear, but will not suit our environment and ethos.
Like the American and Japanese management gurus –do you think that there no management gurus to teach us success lessons in our own style?
Why not? There are.
Yes- he is an example
That toothless smiling grandfather.
That gentleman who wore a loin cloth.
Half-naked.
The fasting yogi, satyagrahi ---
Mahatma Gandhi!
His life is a message. Not merely to the whole world, but also to the corporate world.

He did not found any companies. Not done any businesses. Not read any management treatises. But his quest for truth, the movements, the strategies, the values, and the resolution of conflicts--—all these are of great value to the corporate world. And most precious tools too for application. That is why management experts like C.K Prahlad, Arindam Chowdry, have seen a great Chief Executive leader in Mahatma Gandhi. If anyone leads a business with same devotion like Mahatma led the Independence Struggle, one can achieve miracles—say the experts.

Father of Strategy.
Gandhiji’s strategy formulation is the first lesson for the managers. That is a lesson on “strategic management”. Like all our corporate our leaders think of expansion or turnover, Gandhiji dreamt of Indian Independence.
Total Independence (sampoorna swaraj)
He had total clarity on his goal (which is lacking in 50% of our managers)
Non violence and Truth – He had even more clarity about his means/ strategy—(lacking in 80% of the managers)
By the time he took charge of the independence movement, a number of wars of independence and rebellions took place.
Blood was shed and lives were lost with no success.
The revolutions which worked in America, Russia, and France— he understood will not work for India. Because our culture is different. Our values are different. The way our people respond to any problem is different. To Subhash Chandra Bose’s emotional call “give me your blood, I will get you Swaraj “how many have responded? He had to look to other countries for help. – Giving blood, shedding blood, is not understood by our country men- is what Gandhi understood. That is why Gandhiji changed the strategy. – Which was not chosen in the history by anyone any time? He forbade weapons and violence. He said it is enough if you walk with me. If at all, he asked them to make salt, spin yarn, go to jails silently. How easy? The people thumped in and filled the jails. An invincible strategy it proved.
Mahatma thoroughly understood the psychology of the Indians. The corporate managers have to understand this first i.e. to understand their customers, to understand their needs, to understand the market conditions. “They should have clarity of their goal like Gandhiji. To achieve those, they have to keep aside the traditional methods. They have to think in a novel way. Break new paths. Such people only stand out winners in the market. Become leaders” says Arun Maira, the Boston Consulting Group Chief Executive Officer.
How to be stable to succeed in a long term project of 10 or 20 years has to be learnt from the example of Mahatma. It was struggle for decades; no one knows when you get freedom. How does it come? Whether you get it or not. But he never was disappointed. He was undertaking some struggle or movement to inspire his followers and people. Not to flinch till achieving the aim, -- such was the fighting spirit.
There are two kinds of managers in the world. One specialized in getting short term results; there are no evidences that such people lead the companies to towards development in the long run. The second kind of leaders is experts in long term strategies. They can evolve stupendous plans for 10 years, but there are no instances where they worked for more than 10 months. There are very few who can dovetail the short term plans into the long term strategy- Mahatma is one of such few who come into this category.
Movement to suit the people. Business to fit the market.
Indians get enticed at the coolness of beautiful models in Old Spice advertisement, as ours is a hot country. But in a cold country like Norway, unless the customers are made to yearn for the warmth of the model, the business will not click.
Gandhiji did the same thing. The person who led the movements in South Africa wearing suits, after coming to India, he donned the avatar of an average Indian, spoke the common man’s language. Lived in utter simplicity. My dear Managers! Have you fully understood Mahatma?
Branding Bapu
In our country the publicity budget of corporate runs in to crores of rupees—how other wise the people will not come to know about the company and the brands? But in those days, when there were no T.Vs and very few news papers- that too limited to urban areas, Gandhiji was able to take his message to the nooks and corners of the country. This is a lesson for the corporate to learn how he did it. Says Gita Piramal, the Editor of Smart Manager, “if he Mahatma did Dandi march by himself alone, no one would have bothered, but he did not do like that. He designed it to strongly influence the thinking of the people as great event. He with his followers walked 245 miles to Dandi.” “ I will do or die but will not return to Ashram’ swore Mahatma. Seeing this, people came in battalions and everywhere hailed with welcome lights. Mahatma scored a victory as Event Manager, which has left stalwarts like Motilal Nehru wonder struck.
In 1942 Quit India movement also it happened the same way, the news spread like wild fire in the whole country. Not only in Delhi, but in the nooks and corners of Andhra Pradesh also people were talking about the same. Mahatma knew how to propagate his campaigns. He used the limited newspapers wisely. He wrote articles. He ran some news papers. He wrote letters to hundreds of his followers and supporters. We have to know here something about the language of Mahatma. Whenever we have to say something about untouchability or non violence or customer service, we quote “Mahatma said this or said that” we add his words in original to our text. So powerful and memorable is his style. It will be understood even by a common man. It makes every one to think. This is a thing that all our public relations experts have to learn. Says the media expert, Rajendra “in many commercial advertisement, there will be no clarity. It will be difficult to understand the relationship between the product and advertisement. If one reads the speeches of Gandhiji, brand managers will understand how clearly they can communicate themselves “it is Mahatma who brought a brand value in the world. His Satyagraha is a brand. His charakha is a brand. His khadi is a brand. His smile is brand. He himself is incomparable brand. Even now today’s political leaders use his brand value in some form or other.
“Human Resources” and Mahatma
The swaraj movement did not start with Gandhiji. Many before thought how to achieve swaraj, held many meetings. But the common man did not concern himself with this. No one thought of joining them as partners in this movement. But Mahatma did it. He went into the midst of the people, shares with them his thoughts and sought their support. With this, people understood that they are also partners in the struggle. Now what is happening in the corporate world? According to Shabbir Merchant, Vice President Grow Talent India “The Board room decisions do not reach the employees. No one is talking to those, by becoming close with whom, the change begins “
“Mahatma’s style of leadership is very essential for the corporate world. Then only the lowest employee will feel himself a partner in the institution” says Arun Myra.
Not only that, those bosses who take credit for the success of a project, but abdicate responsibility in case of failure – attributing to the defective planning, have a lesson to learn from Gandhiji. He never made any one a scapegoat. Although he was not in any way connected with the chowra chori incident, he took the responsibility. When the country got independence due to his leadership, he did not boast that he achieved it. When the celebrations were all over, he was doing a fast in some corner of the country.
Treading with Values
However great your ends are, your means should be as great, says Gandhiji. This principle should be adopted in to by the corporate world. In this world at a time when some business entities are working hand in hand with the underworld and teaming up with immoral and corrupt leaders, these words need to be remembered well. To day to win the contracts, boost the share values artificially, to threaten or even eliminate competitors, some business firms are using unfair and questionable means. Bapuji knew how unhealthy such practices are. That is why he exhorted “Respect your competitor “
Those companies which run with the highest ideals are lasting in the long run. This is a proven reality. “Tata, Wipro, Infosys, not merely these, if you observe those companies which run with values, you will understand that they have an individuality. That personality resembles that of Mahatma “analyses C.L.N. Murthy, the Head of Radix & Management. In the institutions following Gandhian principles, there will be no succession battles, no hankering after excessive profits, no bribe giving or taking, no dissatisfaction in employees, and no ego in the owners. Azim Premji and Narayan Murthy are following in letter and spirit the “trusteeship” principle. They are making the employees as partners. They are distributing handsome dividends to the shareholders. In Shara Group, we are told that the top man is called “Managing Worker”.
If Gandhiji’s Ramarajya fructifies, we can hope that such an environment will happen.
Share and grow
“You are merely a guardian/ trustee of the peoples’ resources—the roots of corporate responsibility exist in these words” says Gopalakrishna, Retired I.A.S officer. Gandhiji knows the evils of concentration of wealth in one place. It accentuates unrest in the lowest rung of the people. Therefore he said “poverty is the fearsome face violence”. The corporate have to take the responsibility of alleviating the same. If today they are going to the slums and building schools, hospitals—the idea behind is Gandhism only.
This is all in the cities where the industrialization is taking place. What about the state of villages? The corporate strategists say that if the villages prosper, the business prospers, because it there 70% of the people live and 70% of the market exists. But the purchasing power is not there. It they have to get that power, they have to fill their bellies. They have to earn enough. If all this has to happen, the villages have to become self sufficient. That means the issue again revolves round Gandhism.
Gopalakrishna reveals a different angle of Gandhismi “ Mahatma then itself supported decentralization. He felt that the participation of the people will increase and the transparency and responsibility will be clear. The corporate are now accepting this principle literally. They are focusing on a small scale, increasing the productivity and outsourcing jobs to smaller concerns.”
Leader to “walk the talk”
“Wasteful expenditure is on the rise. We have to cut down. Observe austerity’ this is how a CEO concluded a Power Point Presentation. Applause reverberates. The boss goes to five star hotel in a foreign car. From there he goes to pleasure trip in business class. In Mahatma’s life there is no such instance. He preached what he practiced and practiced what he preached. Whatever change you want to bring should, start with one self – was the principle of Mahatma,
Youth that gave up employment and studies, middle aged lawyers, peasants, workers, illiterate housewives—those people, if you see individually have no specialty, but together, as followers of Gandhi made the British empire tremble. This is what is meant by extraordinary success with ordinary people.
“If the bosses who point fingers at the lower cadres for every failure or fault understand the Gandhiji’s leadership style, half the corporate problems will be solved “says HR consultant Prabhu. Not only this, the way he got the work done through stalwarts like Nehru, Patel and Ambedkar by coordinating with all of them is also great. The corporate corridors which have become the homes of “ego “should learn this as a lesson. Those who are buying expertise, not building them should understand the way he created thousands of leaders.
We need principles of Gandhi.
“A customer is a very important person coming into our premises. We depend on him but he does not depend on us.” These words appear beside the photo of Bapu, smiling with his toothless mouth—wherever you go, be it bus stand, railway station, bank, or post offices---these are the words Gandhiji told much before the magnificent words “Customer relationship” “Customer Care” was born. Because he understood the secrets of business, he could say so. As many think, Gandhiji never opposed business. He only opposed the unethical aspect. In fact in the last 60 years the meaning of business changed. Business does not merely mean earning profits. There are millions of stake stakeholders; it is connected to their welfare. This is a kind of Socialism- Gandhi’s teachings are essential to us. “Every principle of Gandhism is applicable in some way or other to every business’ agrees BSBC Country Head, Mr. Nainalal Kidwai. “So far he is confined to charakha, khadi, and non violence. Gandhism is kept in darkness. In Mahatma there is global leader beyond all these. At least now people are recognizing this. I am happy” said Tushar Gandhi, the great grandson of Gandhiji, to the students of a Business Management School. There was an undescribable glow in his eyes when he said this. In that light--- his toothless smiling Grandfather.
Global Gandhi
The westerners who enjoyed excessive wealth and pleasures came to repulsion with their life slowly. Now they understand the greatness of simplicity of life. They are understanding Mahatma. The colleges and universities which are providing courses in Gandhism are increasing year by year. University of Virginia, University of Hawai, Georgia University—like this, it is a big list. Harvard University, MIT and Oxford, while teaching leadership draws examples of Mahatma. Harvard School of Business recognized him as “20th Century Management guru. In California, a Gandhian protagonist, Leh Wells collected a group of 10,000 students to propagate Gandhian teachings. Martin Luther King Junior warned long back. “If we forget the Gandhian path, we have to pay dearly for that.” We understood now!
Bapu’s soft skills
Self management
Change does not come from elsewhere, it starts with you.
Resolution of conflict.
Many problems get solved with keeping silent. But we lose the opportunity by talking.
Decision making skill
Although our conscience tells us “it is wrong” we take a decision to please others, for temporary gains, --- taking decision in favor of someone is unethical.
Conversational skill.
If I had no sense of humor, I would have committed suicide long back.
Optimism.
If a palm full of water is polluted, it does not mean that all the water in the seas is polluted. If you encounter a bitter experience, it does not mean that the humanity has gone to dogs.
Control of anger
Anger or intolerance will not allow you to understand anything properly. You cannot take correct decisions.
Wisdom
Live with the thought that you die tomorrow. But collect wisdom as if you are going to live eternally.
Business values
To do business with integrity is difficult but not impossible.
“Our management”
“Our Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavadgita—are excellent management treatises. Our Rama, our Krishna, Our Gandhiji are great management gurus.
What can be termed as “Ours truly business management” is unfolding itself clearly now only. True. Till yesterday when Stephen Coovey told us about the “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” we said Aha. When he came out with “8th Habit” we nodded. Whatever Jack Welsh said, we implicitly agreed. We tried our best to implement in our companies. The real problem is here. The foreign management principles may be great but they do not suit our ethos seamlessly. To the westerners, job is simply a job. For salary sake they change a company a month. Indians are not like that. They are relationship oriented. They want lifelong relationships. There are many other differences. There are many contradictions in the matter of values also. After experiencing all these our people started focusing on “indigenous management.” What happens? You get gems as much as you dig. It is proved that there is no parallel to management in Sundarakanda in Ramayana. It is well known now that the teachings of Bhishma from his arrow bed to Pandavas, will serve as principles of corporate governance for management of any company. Likewise all management experts agree that the person who is ‘sthithaprajna” will be the best CEO. Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, also started an elective course called “spirituality for global leaders”.

R.Ramakrishnan

( Translation from a Telegu Paper)

Efficiency vs. Effectiveness

I remember an excellent saying by

" The effective, vitalizing work of the World is done between the ages of twenty-fice and forty

By William Osler ( a great Physician)

The two terms " Efficiency" and "Effectiveness" have to be understood correctly. It is very important to distinguish between the two parameters. Efficiency is about finding the best ways of doing an assigned job. It is the methodology. Then what is effectiveness ? if we analyze the word , " Effective", you will find a word within the word namely " effect". Effect means result. When we say we are effective, what we mean is that we produce result. We could have carried out some activity result may not have got place. Any effort made without result is a waste of time. We are not effective.

Our Strategy should be to produce more effect or outcome with least investment of effort and resources. This is " Smart" working. If we are producing more outcome with more effort, we are working hard.

Let me give an example: Suppose we have currencies of various denominations on our table amounting to Rs 100. Imagine that a whirlwind blows them all over your room. What would be our strategy for picking them up?

If we are efficient, we will pick up the currency closest to us and work towards the other. IF we are effective, we will pick up the highest denomination currency first and then others.

Are we efficient or effective ? In fact, we should be effective and efficient and combine both tactfully

Effectivess is more a goal setting and Efficiency is more a process of attaining the goal

Adopting to New Environment

Adopting to a new environment is going to be a challenge and it is going to be new to you. The way change happens and is led will different to the world you are used to . How different ?

Adopting quickly

To be able to lead in new world will mean understanding things you have taken for granted all over again. To gain credibility you will need to understand the new context, the issues, the sources of power and the pitfalls. To be able to do this will require moving into new environments more frequently, looking for how things work and not assuming they will follow the same old rules.

Asking right questions

The ability to ask the right questions comes to the forefront, as it becomes a more valuable asset than knowing the right answers. A leader becomes known for the speed in which they can come to terms with the new rules and start relating to the situation, not the speed in which they can impose a pre-made solution.

Building credibility in a new environment is described by Lord Puttnam, President of UNICEF and advisor to the department of education. " As an Advisor, I visited more schools than anyone else. I remember hearing an interview with Paula Radcliffe, the long distance runner. She said there were all kinds of clever training techniques but that, in the end, the fundamental issue was how many miles a week you do" is what matters.

More understanding

1. Be wondering how to cope with challenges to your legitimacy or how you can acclimatize to this new world.
2. Be considering whether to take a stand on an issue and what it will feel like if you do.
3. Be operating in new and different environment and it feel lonely
4. Be a newly promoted leader and are finding it difficult or different to operate at this level
5. Be struggling to understand whether leading beyond your authority is really very different to what you currently do.

R.Ramakrishnan

31st Aug 08

The ABC of handshakes

People often underestimate the power of a simple handshake. But this simple gesture can go a long way in communicating what just words or other action may not.

Handshakes are universal physical greetings that accompany the verbal exchange of pleasantries. In today's business world, the handshake has emerged as the only physical contact betweent professionals. We often evalute people through non-verbal and handshake reveals a great deal about their inner traits, personality, feelings and levels of motivation. A well executed handshake is a critical component in creating a great first impression.

You shake hands when :

• Introduced to a person
• Entering a meeting/boardroom
• Congratulating a business associate
• Inking a business deal or at the end of negotiation
• Departing after business meeting / at a networking event/ social gathering
• Offering condolence

Power points on Handshakes:

• Always handshake with the right hand
• Extend your hand with the thumb up and fingers out, as it helps the other person connect better with your hand
• Web-to web : A well executed handshake is one where you connect with the person's web ( the area between the thumband the index finger)
• Shake from the elbow, moving the shoulder muscle makes the handshake too firm and moving the wrist muscles make it too dainty
• Although dependent on the culture, two smooth pumps has emerged as the universally accepted handshake.
• Maintain shoulder -to-shoulder stance as it projects confidence and conveys positive body language.
• Offer a dry hand, as we associate clammy hands with nervousness and anxirty, all negatives in the business arena.
• Shake hands with everyone- there exists no hierarchy when shaking hands in business.
• Be mindful if someone has a disability, and especially older women and men. Wait until they offer their hand .

Across the World :

• Australia/Canada/USA- Firm grip and two smooth strokes. In the US, it can sometime extend to three strokes
• China/Japan- Light grip, three to four gentle stokes
• Indonesia- Nodding, accompanied with the handshake
• Middle east- Limp and lingering, slight up and down movement with plent of eye contact, accompanied with the traditional verbal greeting
• Hong Kong: Less firm than its western counterparts. Socially older persons before younger and women before men
• Singapore: soft, light touch
• Philippines-US style handshake accompanied by a pat on the back

Globally , business has become gender neutral. Anyone who offers their hand first, man or woman, has an advantage. A quick handshake helps to eliminate the initial hesitation, a common fear that grips most people in the first few seconds of meeting a new person

R.Ramakrishnan

26th Aug 2008

Source of Power in Leadership

Our ability to effect change is greatly influenced by our recognition of different kinds of power, how we use it and where we get it from. When leading within our authority we often draw a log of our power from our position, our professional training or the expertise and experience we have gained in our career. Moving into a Leadership role where our specialist knowledge and position may not count for the same, we need to understand where our power and influence comes from, and find other sources of authority.

It's not that power is different when you lead within and beyond your authority but, if you are leading beyond your authority, different sources of power work to different degrees.

Some of the sources of power are

1. 
   
   The power of position : This comes with the position you hold, that you were appointed or elected to, or that you have created for yourself. A leader is less likely to be able to call upon their position when Leading change and will have less access to the resources and authority that comes with it.


2. 
   
   The Power of Personality: This comes from your strength of character, your energy you generate around you because of who you are as a person.


3. 
   
   The Power of ideas: This is acquired through the quality of your ideas, your creativity. Leading change requires leaders to deal with greater complexity and uncertainty. In doing so, much of their power will come from the ability to generate new ideas and ability to connect with diverse groups of people.


4. 
   
   The power to communicate: This is your ability to get across an idea or message in a way which resonates with people, both individually and in groups. For example, communication will become increasingly important when people are not obliged to work with or for you. The need to be able to communicate a clear direction, listen to many and varied people and be able to resonate with people will allow a leader to build greater support.


5. 
   
   The power to connect: This is the power you gain if you able to see connections and overlaps and use your networks to bring all the pieces together.


6. 
   
   The power to reward: This comes from your ability to reward people financially or through recognition. Part of this power is also the freedom to remove people from situations where they are not succeeding.

Most people have had to draw on different source of power throughout their life. Some may have in family situations, when on committees, organizing social or charity events or just influencing friends. However recognizing them and using them more consciously can be quite a challenge.

R.Ramakrishnan

22nd Aug 2008

Brahmin

No one is a Brahmin by birth. At birth all are one and the same.

1) The day 'upanayana' is conducted then he is known as 'dwijan' (twice born).

2) By repeated chanting of the Gayathri when one earns 'tejas'(brilliance) he is known as 'Vipran'.

3) He is known as 'Shastri' with the deep practice of the shastras.

4) After learning the Vedas if he conducts yagna he is then known as 'Srowthi'.

5) After being initiated into a 'Mantra' if he does japa (repeated chanting) of the 'mantra' and the darshan of the god or the goddess of the particular 'Mantra' is had, he is then known as 'Rishi'.

6) He is known as 'Muni' if he controls his mind and does enquiry of the Self.

Kanakadhara Stotra - Sloka & Meaning

Introduction

Adi Sankara was possibly one of the great saints of his time.He was born in a poor Brahmin family in Kerala. After brahmopadesa, as is usual during those times, he was asked to beg alms for his lunch. One day when he went to a Brahmin house, the lady of the house was so poor that she did not have anything to give him. She searched hard and found one small fruit of gooseberry, which she gave to Sankara the boy. He was so touched by her gesture that he sang these 20 mellifluous hymns on Goddess Lakshmi, who poured golden goose berries as rain to the poor woman’s house. Even today it is believed that poverty would be banished by singing this hymn. The house this happened still exisits in Kaladi.

1) Angam hare pulaka bhooshanamasrayanthi,Bhringanga neva mukulabharanam thamalam,Angikrithakhila vibhuthirapanga leela,Mangalyadasthu mama mangala devathaya.

Meaning

To the Hari who wears supreme happiness as Ornament,The Goddess Lakshmi is attracted,Like the black bees getting attracted,To the unopened buds of black Tamala tree,Let her who is the Goddess of all good things,Grant me a glance that will bring prosperity.

2) Mugdha muhurvidhadhadathi vadhane Murare,Premathrapapranihithani gathagathani,Mala dhrishotmadhukareeva maheth pale ya,Sa ne sriyam dhisathu sagarasambhavaya.

Meaning

Again and again return ,those glances,Filled with hesitation and love,Of her who is born to the ocean of milk,To the face of Murari,Like the honey bees to the pretty blue lotus,And let those glances shower me with wealth.

3) Ameelithaksha madhigamya mudha MukundamAnandakandamanimeshamananga thanthram,Akekara stiththa kaninika pashma nethram,Bhoothyai bhavenmama bhjangasayananganaya.

Meaning

With half closed eyes stares she on Mukunda,Filled with happiness , shyness and the science of love,On the ecstasy filled face with closed eyes of her Lord,And let her , who is the wife of Him who sleeps on the snake,Shower me with wealth.

4) Bahwanthare madhujitha srithakausthube ya,Haravaleeva nari neela mayi vibhathi,Kamapradha bhagavatho api kadaksha mala,Kalyanamavahathu me kamalalayaya

Meaning

He who has won over Madhu,Wears the Kousthuba as ornament,And also the garland of glances, of blue Indraneela,Filled with love to protect and grant wishes to Him,Of her who lives on the lotus,And let those also fall on me,And grant me all that is good..

5) Kalambudhaalithorasi kaida bhare,Dharaadhare sphurathi yaa thadinganeva,Mathu samastha jagatham mahaneeya murthy,Badrani me dhisathu bhargava nandanaya

Meaning

Like the streak of lightning in black dark cloud,She is shining on the dark , broad chest,Of He who killed Kaidaba,And let the eyes of the great mother of all universe,Who is the daughter of Sage Bharghava,Fallon me lightly and bring me prosperity.

6) Praptham padam pradhamatha khalu yat prabhavath,Mangalyabhaji madhu madhini manamathena,Mayyapadetha mathara meekshanardham,Manthalasam cha makaralaya kanyakaya.

Meaning

The God of love could only reach ,The killer of Madhu,Through the power of her kind glances,Loaded with love and blessing And let that side glance ,Which is auspicious and indolent,Fall on me.

7) Viswamarendra padhavee bramadhana dhaksham,Ananda hethu radhikam madhu vishwoapi,Eshanna sheedhathu mayi kshanameekshanartham,Indhivarodhara sahodharamidhiraya

Meaning

Capable of making one as king of Devas in this world,Her side long glance of a moment,Made Indra regain his kingdom,And is making Him who killed Madhu supremely happy.And let her with her blue lotus eyes glance me a little.

8) Ishta visishtamathayopi yaya dhayardhra,Dhrishtya thravishta papadam sulabham labhanthe,Hrishtim prahrushta kamlodhara deepthirishtam,Pushtim krishishta mama pushkravishtaraya.

Meaning

To her devotees and those who are great,Grants she a place in heaven which is difficult to attain,Just by a glance of her compassion filled eyes,Let her sparkling eyes which are like the fully opened lotus,Fall on me and grant me all my desires.

9) Dhadyaddhayanupavanopi dravinambhudaraam,Asminna kinchina vihanga sisou vishanne,Dhushkaramagarmmapaneeya chiraya dhooram,Narayana pranayinee nayanambhuvaha.

Meaning

Please send your mercy which is like wind,And shower the rain of wealth on this parched land,,And quench the thirst of this little chataka bird,And likewise ,drive away afar my load of sins,Oh, darling of Narayana,By the glance from your cloud like dark eyes.

10) Gheerdhevathethi garuda dwaja sundarithi,Sakambhareethi sasi shekara vallebhethi,Srishti sthithi pralaya kelishu samsthitha ya,Thasyai namas thribhvanai ka guros tharunyai.

Meaning

She is the goddess of Knowledge,She is the darling of Him who has Garuda as flag,She is the power that causes of death at time of deluge,And she is the wife of Him who has the crescent,And she does the creation , upkeep and destruction at various times,And my salutations to this lady who is worshipped by all the three worlds.

11) Sruthyai namosthu shubha karma phala prasoothyai,Rathyai namosthu ramaneeya gunarnavayai,Shakthyai namosthu satha pathra nikethanayai,Pushtayi namosthu purushotthama vallabhayai.

Meaning

Salutations to you as Vedas which give rise to good actions,Salutation to you as Rathi for giving the most beautiful qualities,Salutation to you as Shakthi ,who lives in the hundred petalled lotus,And salutations to you who is Goddess of plenty,And is the consort of Purushottama.

12) Namosthu naleekha nibhananai,Namosthu dhugdhogdhadhi janma bhoomayai,Namosthu somamrutha sodharayai,Namosthu narayana vallabhayai.

Meaning

Salutations to her who is as pretty.As the lotus in full bloom,Salutations to her who is born from ocean of milk,Salutations to the sister of nectar and the moon,Salutations to the consort of Narayana.

13) Namosthu hemambhuja peetikayai,Namosthu bhoo mandala nayikayai,Namosthu devathi dhaya prayai,Namosthu Sarngayudha vallabhayai.

Meaning

Salutations to her who has the golden lotus as seat,Salutations to her who is the leader of the universe,Salutations to her who showers mercy on devas,And salutations to the consort of Him who has the bow called Saranga.

14) Namosthu devyai bhrugu nandanayai,Namosthu vishnorurasi sthithayai,Namosthu lakshmyai kamalalayai,Namosthu dhamodhra vallabhayai.

Meaning

Salutations to her who is daughter of Bhrigu,Salutations to her lives on the holy chest of Vishnu,Salutations to Goddess Lakshmi who lives in a lotus,And saluations to her who is the consort of Damodhara.

15) Namosthu Kanthyai kamalekshanayai,Namosthu bhoothyai bhuvanaprasoothyai,Namosthu devadhibhir archithayai,Namosthu nandhathmaja vallabhayai.

Meaning

Salutations to her who is light living in Lotus flower,Salutations to her who is the earth and also mother of earth,Salutations to her who is worshipped by Devas,And salutations to her who is the consort of the son of Nanda.

16) Sampath karaani sakalendriya nandanani,Samrajya dhana vibhavani saroruhakshi,Twad vandanani dhuritha haranodhythani,Mamev matharanisam kalayanthu manye.

Meaning

Giver of wealth, giver of pleasures to all senses,Giver of the right to rule kingdoms,She who has lotus like eyes,She to whom Salutations remove all miseries fast,And my mother to you are my salutations.

17) Yath Kadaksha samupasana vidhi,Sevakasya sakalartha sapadha,Santhanodhi vachananga manasai,Twaam murari hridayeswareem bhaje

Meaning

He who worships your sidelong glances,Is blessed by all known wealth and prosperity,And so my salutations by word, thought and deed,To the queen of the heart of my Lord Murari.

18) Sarasija nilaye saroja hasthe,Dhavalathamamsuka gandha maya shobhe,Bhagavathi hari vallabhe manogne,Tribhuvana bhoothikari praseeda mahye

Meaning

She who sits on the Lotus,She who has lotus in her hands,She who is dressed in dazzling white,She who shines in garlands and sandal paste,The Goddess who is the consort of Hari,She who gladdens the mind,And she who confers prosperity on the three worlds,Be pleased to show compassion to me.

19) Dhiggasthibhi kanaka kumbha mukha vasrushta,Sarvahini vimala charu jalaapluthangim,Prathar namami jagathaam janani masesha,Lokadhinatha grahini mamrithabhi puthreem.

Meaning

Those eight elephants from all the diverse directions,Pour from out from golden vessels,The water from the Ganga which flows in heaven,For your holy purifying bath,And my salutations in the morn to you ,Who is the mother of all worlds,Who is the house wife of the Lord of the worlds,And who is the daughter of the ocean which gave nectar.

20) Kamale Kamalaksha vallabhe twam,Karuna poora tharingithaira pangai,Avalokaya mamakinchananam,Prathamam pathamakrithrimam dhyaya

Meaning

She who is the Lotus, She who is the consort, Of the Lord with Lotus like eyes, She who has glances filled with mercy,Please turn your glance on me,Who is the poorest among the poor,And first make me the vessel ,To receive your pity and compassion.

Form the " Completion" Habit

" Get a good idea and stay with it, and work it until it's done and done right' - By Walt Disney

Sometimes we may have a habit of leaving things incomplete whenever we are interrupted and going to the next issue. A normal day is a day full of interruptions. A perfectly uninterrupted time is not possible. As you are working, you may be interrupted by phone calls, visitors or any other type of interupptions. While you are doing a job and if you are interuppted in between, go back to same job which was interuppted and do not pick up the next job unless you complete it.

It is likely that you will be asked to handle an equally important task in hand. Do it accepting it as a reality. However, after the interupption is over, go back to the interuppted task. It is something like understanding a travel. When your journey is interuppted due to traffic jam, or diversion, you accept it as a reality and take a deviation. You join the main road after the interupption is over. Keep this example in mind next time you are interuppted.

Remember what Edward Deming said : " Constancy of purpose and consistency of action". The ability to bounce back after an interupption is a very critical skill for succeeding in life.

R.Ramakrishnan

18th Aug 2008

Enjoy what you are doing

I remember a good quote from Mr.Thomas E. Burton
" With ordinary talent and extraordinary perserverance, all things are attainable .

An excellent quote and just a a debrief on this

Sometimes you get into a mindset wondering what you are doing. Something which you do may not be to your liking. There are two options in your life
1) Do what you love doing
2) If you are not so lucky, love what you are doing!

If you do not love what you are doing, you will not fix your mind on it and this will reflect in quality of the work that you turn out.

Whenever you are doing an activity, it is not merely the content of the job which will produce the result. What is equally important is the emotinal value that you assign to the job. The more you are emotionally involved in doing the activity, the better will be the quality of the output and nearer the goal.

Especially when you have to do something which you are not happy to do, consider the various advantages that will be in front of you, once you complete the project. Visualise the future where you will be really, enjoying the benefit of what you are doing right now. As long as there is no other option but to do the job, do it with a smile or quit the situation and openly express.

Today list those things which do not like doing and start considering what aspect of it you like most. Do it first and you will like it . But also ensure that what you are doing is ethically right , fits into your values and beliefs and in case what you are doing comes out in newspaper tomorrow , what will be your feeling !

R.Ramakrishnan
10th Aug 2008

Chanakya & his 16 Famous Sayings

Chanakya (c.350 - c.275 BC), also known as Kautilya or Vishnugupta, was an acharya of political science at the Takshasilâ University. He is regarded as one of the earliest known political thinkers, economists and kingmakers. Jawaharlal Nehru called him “The Indian Machiavelli.” Details of his birth are not authenticated and his work has been faithfully preserved orally for two thousand years. His place of birth has to be ascertained from the Buddhist and Jain scriptures. The mahavamsa tika (Buddhist) mentions his birthplace as Taxila, while Jain scriptures like adbidhana chintamani mention his birthplace as South India, around present day Kerala. His complexion they say was dark and he did not seem to be a man of Aryan descent.

His 16 -Famous Sayings are :

1) Learn from the mistakes of others... you can't live long enough to make them all yourselves!!" - 2)"A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and Honest people are screwed first."-
3)"Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous."
4)"The biggest guru-mantra is: Never share your secrets with anybody. It will destroy you."- 5)"There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship without self-interests. This is a bitter truth."-
6)" Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead."
7)"As soon as the fear approaches near, attack and destroy it."
8) "The world's biggest power is the youth and beauty of a woman."
9)"Once you start a working on something, don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it. People who work sincerely are the happiest."
10)"The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind. But the goodness of a person spreads in all direction."
11)"God is not present in idols. Your feelings are your god. The soul is your temple."
12) "A man is great by deeds, not by birth."
13) "Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such friendships will never give you any happiness."
14) "Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years. For the next five years, scold them. By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend. Your grown up children are your best friends."
15) "Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person."
16) "Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats the beauty and the youth."

Intention, Attention & Manifestation -Talk by Sri Sri

Our life runs through intention. Everything we do has either a desire or intention or unconscious habit attached to it. Whether you want to drink a glass of water, take a walk or sit and watch TV, first an intention arises in the mind. If you want to call it desire, as ‘a desire arises in the mind’, I have no objection. But there is a difference between intention and desire. People don’t understand this. Even if you say ‘I don’t want any desire”, it is a desire. “I want to be enlightened” is a desire. Better job, more wealth, live happily… die peacefully is also a desire!

Why some people desire gets fulfilled, others don’t? This is a question in many people. How many of you have this problem? It is very few in Art Of Living!! Somehow by hook or crook, or fluke, you got the skill to attend to your desire. Desire is a feverishness attached to a wish or a thought. The feverishness kills. If you have noticed people who are getting all this Emmy awards, Filmfare awards – prestigious awards in the world, they can’t contain their happiness. They get sick. They get panic attacks!!

Desire when fulfilled still leaves you empty. If not fulfilled, they make you miserable. This whole hippy movement happened because all desires were getting fulfilled. It all seemed futile, nothing to hold on to. Because desire doesn’t seem to be bringing fulfillment.

Unfulfilled desire gives a void. Fulfilled desire gives a greater void. It creates such feverishness; you can’t have a good night’s sleep. If desire is the mother of sorrow, then shouldn’t we desire? I am saying “I don’t want any desire”. If that is also a desire, what to do?!!

Here comes the knowledge, the secret knowledge of desire and intention. For example, you want to go to Mysore – a 3 hour journey. You sit in a car, drive, on the way stop, drink tea, coffee, whatever, and you reach in 3 hours. This is an intention. An intention is a thought that arises in you, remains with you and translates into an action – whether today, tomorrow, next year.

And desire is sitting in the car and being feverish, repeating “I want to go to Mysore, I want to go to Mysore”. You will not go to Mysore, you will go to mental hospital.

Most of the people in the world do not know the difference between intention and desire. Ancient people knew the secret. They called it sankalpa. Take an intention and leave it to the universe. Today if you go to temples, even in the west, or where there is a fountain, they say ‘make a wish and drop it’ – drop the coin.

An intention has to be dropped. Have an intention, have an attention and consciously drop it. It will start manifesting. If you hold on to the intention, intention becomes desire and desire causes heartache.

See your life in the bigger context. With intention in your hand, what do you do? See how many billion years have passed, how vast this universe is. With this vastness, the mind expands. This is what is sankalpa – so many billion years have passed, among all the billions of stars, among all the milky ways, in this small planet, in this small country, state, I take this intention; and drop it!!

When you do this, a phenomenon is happening within you. Mind, consciousness expands and this expanded consciousness recognizes what you need to be happy. Attention on the magnanimity of the creation? and intending what you want to manifest is an art in itself. Instead, what we do? We put our attention on what we don’t have!!

My grandmother would say “Chocolates are full. I have to go to chocolate shop!”. She will never say ‘it is empty’. She would say ‘chocolate is full’. Even in language, she wouldn’t use the negative word - don’t have. She would say angels are floating around and all they say is ‘let it be’. You say ‘I don’t have money’, they say ‘let it be’!! It was like that for her, you know – always smiling, cheerful, positive state of mind.

Intention, attention and manifestation. They are linked. The go together. But if our attention is always about something negative… Your attention goes to fights, to problem. If someone is doing good work, your attention doesn’t go there. Create a scandal and see your interest! Unless you know all about that, you don’t feel comfortable. If your mind is clinging on to negative, that’s what is going to grow. If you tell your child, ‘you are stupid’, he will remain stupid. Because your attention is on foolish, stupid.

People don’t understand this. They sit and visualize - I am becoming rich, rich! Instead of attention, intention they turn the intention into a feverish desire and become depressed. In positive thinking, you suppress, suppress and somewhere it all becomes negative.

This is a skill. You know, there is a certain group that tells people to wake up in the morning and sit and tell “I love myself, I love myself, I love myself”. And they get sick!! See, you know you are in Bangalore. You don’t have to repeat you are in Bangalore. You keep affirming, you keep saying “I am strong”, somewhere you think you are weak, so you have to keep affirming.

Intention is not fighting with a stream of thought that is coming in the mind. Intention is beyond fleeting positive and negative thoughts. In your mind, you get so many thoughts, but not everything translates into action. Why? Only those thoughts that translates into intention becomes action.

Let us see the distinction between desire and intention.
Intention has a purpose
Desire has feverishness.
Intention has a goal.

Desire’s goals are really not good because desire is always linked to happiness and no event or object can bring you to the happiness you really want.

If your attention is all the time on the negative, switch it to positive. Just being aware of it, it already switches. Then give the time for it to manifest.

Some of you have this habit. Saying Always. “I always have pain”. That is what is going to happen. In Bible also there is a saying, “Those who have more shall be given to them, those who do not have what they have will also be taken away”. The feeling of abundance, feeling you have abundance and abundance will grow. You put your attention on lack and lack will grow.
A gentleman got 1 million dollar in a lottery. He became so sad. Previous day, he had seen a house that cost 1.2 million! “Just 0,2 million and I would have got my house!”. Even though he won a lottery, he became depressed. Desire is never with what we have here and now. It always gallops – leaves your legs tired and hands empty. And meditation is the skill in which you learn how to drop the intention and relax, let go!

You know there is a saying – ask, and it shall be given. We never even attended to it. Your attention is not there. You never put your intention on it and you say it didn’t manifest. Many people who say “I am poor” do not put their intention and attention on it. It’s not enough to say “I want money”. You have to be specific - who do you want to be wealthy? In the temples, they say “this child born on this day, this grand child born on that day”… after or before meditation, you put your intention. I want this much money, this to happen, this to be solved – and drop it.

Many times you do not really enjoy what you wanted. Kids, it happens. They want something, get it and they don’t want it! Clarity comes only through depth of meditation and meditation cannot happen when mind is feverish with desire.

Bringing desire to intention, putting attention and allowing time to manifest is a really intelligent way to deal with desire. When you are sick, you put an attention on it “I am sick, I am sick”… I am not saying, you put an affirmation – “I am healthy, I am healthy”.
In Bali, Indonesia, they greet “Swasthirasthu”. Swa means self. Swasthi means ‘established in the self’. Swasthirasthu means “may you be established in the self”. Swaastha means not just physical health. Physical, mental and spiritual health is ’swaasthya’. In India, nobody greets that way. But in Bali, they greet that way. ‘Om swasthirasthu’ – of course in festivals, pundits chant that. But others don’t understand!!


Question: If you drop an intention, how can it convert into action?
Sri Sri: Just like you want to go to Delhi, and drop it, it automatically converts into an action. If you hold on to it, what will happen to you??

Intention should go with a feeling. It is not reading, “Oh, what is the intention I should have today?”. Intention is a need that comes within you. There is a deep yearning for it. Then it becomes an intention. Like someone wants a car or transportation, they really need a car, then you just put an intention, sankalpa – I really need this.

One is fantasy – it is not a real need, your heart, your soul is not longing for it. Like someone else has a car, I also want a car. Someone has a bigger house. I also want. This is not a need. It is not going to happen. If you say “I’m so tired of moving houses, and more people are coming and I need a bigger hall”, then it is an intention. And then you add the clause “Anything better than this is ok”. “This or anything better than this, I can accept”.

But if you have not kept your commitment, you are not sincere, you are cheating, nature will know that. It will also cheat you! Nature will also not give you the power to manifest what you intend!

In Yoga Sutras, Patanjali says there are five yamas one has to follow before asana.

Ahimsa – Non-violence. What do you get by being non-violent? In your presence, everyone else will lose their violence. One who is established in non-violence, in their presence others will also lose violent tendencies within.

One of our teachers in Botswana, a young woman – she was kidnapped by 5-6 gunmen. How many of you know this? You should hear from her own words. They took her in the car. She was laughing and she said “If you do any harm to me, your family will not be happy!”. She said, “see, I have a Guru!”. They said, ‘what is a guru’ and then she gave them an intro talk!! She spoke to them half an hour and they left her. Then they gave her the passport back. You listen to her own story. It is very funny! And the terrorist said sorry to her! They tried to push her, she said “It’s paining, don’t do that”. They said “Oh sorry madam!”.

We don’t know the power of yoga, meditation. How 6 terrorists in Botswana, it has never happened in history, they have left just like that and given the passport back!

Another teacher from India, went to Moscow. Four men came and started speaking in Hindi and then told him “You have five hours. Lets go have some tea”. He went with them innocently and they took him and locked him. He broke the door. They have guns and this gentleman without any weapons could face and get away from them, unhurt! They also gave him money to get to the airport!

Couple of other stories are there, in Calcutta, they kidnapped and brought him back.

If you have the conviction, if you are established in non-violence, in your presence, surroundings, violence drops. Violence turns into non-violence. This I have seen again and again. Why should you follow truth? Because that will fructify your actions. That much enough for today.

Question: Sarvasreshtha gnaan kya hai?
Sri Sri: Jo haath mein hai, who kya hai? Jo nahin hai, usko sarvasreshta maanke… dhoondthe reh jaaoge.

Haan se huddath, nahin ki talaash
Isi liye poori duniya hai udaas.



Question: About Varlakshmi Vratham and what it symbolises
Sri Sri: They take a pot, put rice, crown it with a coconut, invoke the Divine and feel the abundance. Not just for me, for everybody. They say, give me enough, so whoever comes to my house will not be hungry. Grant me the wish for abundance. Wanting abundance for whose sake/ Not for oneself, so that I can help everybody! They feel Lakshmi has already come home. Lakshmi is invited to every home and stays at every home. There is enough for everyone in this planet. Don’t be greedy, don’t be selfish. There is abundance in every life.

Sit quiet for a few minutes and feel the abundance. Close your eyes and feel you have abundance of everything – good qualities, money, health everything.

Contributed by K.Kumar

Why do we have Prayer room ?

Most Indian homes have a prayer room or altar. A lamp is lit and the Lord worshipped each day. Other spiritual practices like japa - repetition of the Lord’s name, meditation, paaraayana - reading of the scriptures, prayers, and devotional singing etc are also done here. Special worship is done on auspicious occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, festivals and the like. Each member of the family - young or old - communes with and worships the Divine here.
The Lord is the entire creation. He is therefore the true owner of the house we live in too. The prayer room is the Master room of the house. We are the earthly occupants of His property. This notion rids us of false pride and possessiveness.
The ideal attitude to take is to regard the Lord as the true owner of our homes and us as caretakers of His home. But if that is rather difficult, we could at least think of Him as a very welcome guest. Just as we would house an important guest in the best comfort, so too we felicitate the Lord’s presence in our homes by having a prayer room or altar, which is, at all times, kept clean and well-decorated.
Also the Lord is all pervading. To remind us that He resides in our homes with us, we have prayer rooms. Without the grace of the Lord, no task can be successfully or easily accomplished. We invoke His grace by communing with Him in the prayer room each day and on special occasions.

Hinduism -Not a Religion - A way of life

Hinduism is not a religion but a way of life. Unlike other religions, Hindu dharma has many specialties. This is not known as a religion, it is known as the dharma; Sanaathana Dharma. Sanaathana means, according to Bhagavath Geetha, which cannot be destroyed by fire, weapons, water, air, and which is present in all living and non living being. Dharma means, the way of life which is the ‘total of all aachaaraas or customs and rituals’.
Sanaathana Dharma has its foundation on scientific spirituality. In the entire ancient Hindu literature we can see that science and spirituality are integrated. It is mentioned in the 40th chapter of the Yajurveda known as Eesaavaasya Upanishad that use scientific knowledge for solving problems in our life and use the spiritual knowledge for attaining immortality through philosophical outlook.
Remember that in each and every aachaaraa there will be a component of spirituality in it. Without spirituality, nothing exists in Sanaathana dharma. Generally everyone bear a wrong impression that this spirituality is religion. Spirituality is different in Hindu dharma. Here the question of religion does not exist at all, because Hindu dharma was not created by an individual, prophet or an incarnation. Spirituality is a part of every Hindu custom in the normal life of a Hindu.
Aachaaraas are to be followed based on their merits available from the self experience; you need not blindly follow a teacher or someone who gives advice without reasoning. All these aachaaraas are mentioned for the prosperity of the human beings and it should be the prime focus for practicing the Hindu aachaaraas.
Achaaryaath paadam aadatthe
paadam sishya swamedhayaa
paadam sa brahmachaaribhya
sesham kaala kramena cha
This is an important advice given in smruthies.

It means a person can get only one quarter of knowledge from Achaarya - the teacher, another quarter by analyzing self, one quarter by discussing with others and the last quarter during the process of living by method addition, deletion, correction, and modification of already known aachaaraas or new aachaaraas.
Aachaaraath labhathe hi ayu:
aachaaraath dhanamakshayam
aachaaraath labhathe suprajaa:
aachaaro ahanthya lakshanam
Aachaaraas are followed for the psychological and physiological health and long life; Aachaaraas are followed for prosperity and wealth; Aachaaraas are followed for strong family and social bondage and following the Aachaaraas give a fine personality, dharmic outlook and vision, says our dharmasaastra.
In India everyone followed Aachaaraas for the above mentioned psychological, physiological, family relation, social benefits and national integration based benefits. It is your right and duty to understand scientifically, rationally and logically the meaning of each and every Aachaaraas and follow the same in your life systematically.

12 Jyotirlingas

The Dwadasa Jyotirlinga shrines or the 12 shrines enshrining Shiva in the form of a Jyotirlingam, have been held in reverence since time immemorial in the Indian system of beliefs. The southernmost of these is located at Rameswaram, while the northernmost is located in the snowy heights of the Himalayas at Kedarnath. These temples are closely linked with legends from the puranas and are rich in history and tradition.
Somnath is the foremost of the 12 Jyotirlinga Shrines of Shiva, held in reverence throughout India and is rich in legend, traditions and history. It is located at

1) Prabhas Patan in Saurashtra in Gujarat.
2) Sree Sailam - near Kurnool enshrines Mallikarjuna in an ancient temple rich in architectural and sculptural wealth. Aadi Sankaracharya composed his Sivanandalahiri here.
3) Ujjain - Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga shrine The ancient and historic city of Ujjain or Avanti in Madhya Pradesh is home to the Jyotirlinga shrine of Mahakaleshwar.
4) Omkareshwar: an island in the course of the river Narmada in Madhya Pradesh is home to the Omkareshwar shrine and the Amareshwar temple.
5) Kedarnath - the Northernmost of the Jyotirlingas.Kedarnath, nestled in the snow clad Himalayas is an ancient shrine rich in legend and tradition. It is accessible only on foot, six months in a year.
6) Bhimashankar - is associated with the legend of Shiva destroying the demon Tripurasura. Bhimashankar is located in the Sahyadri hills of Maharashtra, accessed from Pune.
7) Varanasi - The most celebrated pilgrimage site in India The Vishwanath temple in Benares in Uttar Pradesh is the goal of the thousands of pilgrims that visit this ancient city. The Vishwanath shrine is revered as one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva.
8) Tryambakeshwar - The origin of the river Godavari is intimately linked with this near Nasik in Maharashtra.
9) Vaidyanath temple at Deogarh The ancient pilgrimage town of Deogarh in the Santal Parganas area of Bihar is revered as one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Shiva.
10) Nageshwar near Dwarka in Gujarat is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva.
11) Rameswaram: This vast temple in the island of Rameswaram in Southern Tamilnadu enshrines Ramalingeswarar, and is revered as the southernmost of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines of India.
12) Grishneshwar is a temple located in the vicinity of the tourist town of Ellora, which has several rock cut monuments from the 1st millennium CE.
In Sanskrit there is a Sloka

Saurashtre Somanaatham Cha Sree Saile Mallikarjunam

Ujjayinyaam Mahaakaalam Omkaare Mamaleswaram

Himalaye to Kedaram Daakinyaam Bhimashankaram

Vaaranaasyaam cha Viswesam Trayambakam Gowtameethate

Paralyaam Vaidyanaatham cha Naagesam Daarukaavane

Setubandhe Ramesham Grushnesam cha Shivaalaye

Lord Ganesha & Sloka Meaning

Ganapathy , the Elephant faced Lord is the ruler ( controller) of impediments. His large abdomen is a trasure of 'letters; and he is physical form of ' OMKAARA', hence known as 'Pravanaswaroopa'.

He is the primal lord, the bestower of Siddhi and Buddhi. He is the Lord of heavinly hosts ( Ganaas), who blesses us with power of speech, intellect and guides us to victory.

Lord Ganapathi is the primary GOD of adoration, the destroyer of obstacles, who rescues us from difficulties with his vital energy and his all pervading supremacy. It is a practice to pay obeisance to Lord Ganapathi and inovke his blessings to seek motivation and guidance, prior to commencing any ritual or event.

OM vakrathunda mahaa-kaaya

Koti-soorya sama-prabha

niribignam kuru may-dhevaa

sarva-kaaryeshu sarvadha

Meaning

( You ( Lord Ganesha) , the one with the twisted trunk and massive body, with the dazzle and radiance equal to those of a million of suns, lead me on the path devoid of obstacles or hindrances, clearing the way in all that I do, even and always )

Agajannan-padhmaarkam

Gajaajanamaharnisham

anneka-dhantham bhakthaa naam

ekadhantham upapsmahe

Meaning

The one who makes the lotus like face of Parvathi bloom with happiness, He,( Gajanana), is the savior at all times. he who has innumberable devotees, the Lord with single tusk, let us all worship , he who can bestow many boons upon us

Om Shri Ganeshaaya Namaha!

R.Ramakrishnan

22nd Jun 2008

Prayer

Prayer is a hear-to-heart communication with Super natural power ( God). When, we pray, we turn to God, to uplift our minds and hearts. When we pray, we are drawn closer to God, we derive strength and direction from the Supreme divine Energy. When we pray, we should pray with faith and God will respond to our prayers.

Prayer is a very personal experience. It fulfills our emotional and spiritual needs. It is also an acknowledgement that God, is always present and active in our lives. Hymns from scriptures and religious literature are a rich souce for prayer and contemplation on God.

" The human race was born free, and yet, everywhere he seems to be in chains!" . This race is perennially bonded in chains of misery and suffering, in greed and desire, in attachments and needs, in disease and death.... There seems to be no escape, but " Prayer & Faith" give the human mind great strength and confidence, a sense of well being, purpose and duty. Thus enabling one to face life and postively steer its course.

The effects of prayer are creative and cathartic to the mind. And the body as well. According to one particular study, those who visited places of worship or offered prayers at least once a week, were happier, and had about 40 % lower hypertension problems. While another study pointed out that regular visits to temples and places of worship and, participating in group prayers ( Bhajans) would boost the immune system and would also increase one's life span by seven to fourteen years !.

Conscious thoughts like- 'God protect us', 'God is watching us ', 'God is always guiding us' can make one lead a less stressful life. The therapeutic value of prayer can be experienced by praying with faith, sincerity, and devotion. 'Prayer' is the answer todisorders of modern culture and to experience Ananda, or bliss, leading to path of Bhakthi Marga to achieve salvation.

Let us move towards a Prayer with faith, devotion and sincerity. As mentioned Sri Sri Ravishankar - in Science the Knowledge comes first and faith follows , in Sprituality the faith comes first and knowledge follows.

"Words are symbols used to convey the reality and meaning of that which they define. By conscious devotional utterance, intonation and chanting of a sacred word ( Mantra) a diven vibration is awakened within our being"

Shri Lahari Mahashaya

'Mantra- A sanskrit word meaning- " Man " is mind. " thra' is to take beyond

Have a great prayer with Mantras to enhance your life

R.Ramakrishnan

22nd Jun 2008