Everyone needs success. Everyone wants to achieve success. Everybody
would like to enjoy a comfortable life, and achieve more with the use of
less energy and work. Some
people are able to come near
success without being able to achieve it. Some people gain success, but
are not able to retain it. Sometimes people do
achieve success, but the price is so high, it does not count. There are
people who gain success with less investment of time and energy and more
outcome and profit. HOW? Let’s see.
A princess who was going to be the queen of her
country in due time had to choose a husband. The man she married would
be king at her side. She therefore had three dolls made that looked
exactly alike. From among the three dolls the suitors who wanted to
marry her had to choose the one who would have the qualities to be a
good minister. As the princess was very beautiful, and her country large
and prosperous, many aspired to wed her. Some came and looked at the
dolls, but not being able to see any differences between them at first
sight shrugged and left. Another group of suitors looked at the three
dolls but felt such a test was below their dignity. They decided it was
all a waist of time and left as well. A third group of candidates looked
very carefully at the dolls, felt something was there, but were afraid
to fail and be laughed at, and also gave up.
One prince who wanted to marry the princess took
his time studying the dolls. He found some hole in their construction.
He thought carefully about this. Finally he asked for a long reed and
approached the dolls. He passed the reed through the right ear of
the first doll. It came out of the other ear. Then he passed the reed
through the right ear of the second doll. It came out of its mouth.
Finally he put the reed through the ear of the third doll and found it
reached the area of the brain and stayed there. The prince declared the
third doll would make a good minister. The princess asked him to explain
his choice. The prince told her that the first doll represented a person
with whom what would be said
into one ear would go out the other. With the second doll everything
that was told to him would pass out through his mouth, he would talk too
much. But the third doll represented a person who would receive, keep
and understand the information given to him and act accordingly. The
princess understood this man would make a good husband as well as a good
ruler, and she married him.
The reason why the other suitors failed was because
they did not have enough control
over their emotions. They were controlled by laziness, overconfidence,
or an inferiority complex. Some of the characteristics of the successful
suitor were right vision, self control, confidence and patience. But
beyond those there was also inspiration. With little more investment
than some of his time and the right commitment he achieved the success
he aimed for. Would we not all like to be able to achieve success in the
same way? The
question is how to obtain the abilities and skills we need. And how to
avoid the leakage of energy that caused the failures.
We are living in challenging times. Globalization is changing humanity
from a collection of relatively isolated tribes, villages or nation
states into a geographically integrated society. At the same time we are
experiencing the electronic revolution. A technical breakthrough
changing the way we live and think in innumerable ways. As well as
facing the ecological crises caused by the way we have been living in
the past two hundred years. In between all this, individuals and
organization are facing the challenges of the changing market place.
For some time now people are trying to grapple with this situation, and
much talk is going on about paradigm shifts and their necessity. The
essence of our present situation is however not that such a shift in the
functioning of our mind-set or that of our civilization is necessary,
but that it is inevitable. The challenge is not whether we weather this
transformation, but how we weather is. The process of change has been
put into motion long ago. The challenge lies not so much in whether we
will accomplish this much spoken of paradigm shift, but how we will face
the challenge with success, and how we will survive as entities. How
successful we will be in our time as individuals and as organizations.
The million-dollar question of course is HOW? How are we to achieve the
success we all are longing for? Abilities and skills like right vision,
self-control, confidence, patience and inspiration do not come to all of
us by birth or by upbringing. Neither does conventional education
nurture the development of these skills. How could we include
them in our functioning?
Our uniqueness as a species lies in our
consciousness. And our consciousness expresses itself through our
intelligence. Intelligence is a fluid almost intangible concept, and
attempts at pinning it down have been only partially successful. But it
is our intelligence which is the instrument with which we have to face
the challenges that are
with us at the moment, and in the future. Many methods have been devised
to measure intelligence in its various aspects. But the development and
improvement of intelligence as such has, to my knowledge, not been a
subject of study, not been part of the educational system.
This is possibly due to the assumption that
intelligence, as generated by or seated in the
brain, is as it were fixed by birth and circumstances. But in reality
the brain, being a
physical organ, can be trained and exercised, just as we train and
exercise other parts of our bodies. By stating this fact I am not
introducing a new concept. In reality it is one of the most ancient
teachings, tracing its origin to one of the spiritual traditions of
humanity. The training and development of our consciousness through
exercising
the brain is part of the Vedic principles, and can be traced back as far
as 13000 years before the present.
To enable a clear understanding, let me explain some aspects of the
principles that allow us to train and cultivate the mind that will be
introduced in this article. Whereas modern science recognizes only the
material world as reality, the Vedic worldview includes higher,
non-physical planes. These are quite possibly identical with or related
to the unseen dimensions that have recently been discovered by
physicists. Primarily we can distinguish three levels or fields of
reality.
The first or lowest level, which is best known to us as it is the plane
of our daily lives. It is the plane of matter which gives rise to our
physical bodies, including the brain. The next level is non-material,
and is therefore called the subtle. This is where the energy body is
functioning. The third and highest dimension of our existence is the
spiritual body. It is the vehicle of our consciousness, or the soul.
Ancient spiritual practice has as aim the total development of all the
faculties belonging to human consciousness, as they exist on these three
planes. The methods, mechanisms and exercises that enhance and improve
our functioning as conscious human beings have been handed down by the
oral tradition of the learned masters through the millennia.
Human intelligence can be trained to perform better on every level, and
in every aspect of its functioning, whether material, social or
spiritual. Applying the practices that improve mental functioning will
enable us to discover and develop solutions for many of our present day
conflicts and dilemmas. They are in a way a solution in themselves.
These practices are based upon a right understanding of the
brain-mind-soul continuity.
Developing one aspect of this continuity assures the improvement of the
other dimensions. The ultimate goal is complete integration and
harmonization. This
cannot be achieved in a day. Just as exercising the body takes time, so
does exercising the brain-mind. But immediate results can be experienced
and observed, and can radically improve an individual’s life and
functioning.
Successful results can be achieved through a five-step program, training
and improving the functioning of individuals as well as organizations
from five different angles.
* The physical dimension; by practicing certain
aspects of the motor functions of the brain a considerable improvement
of the neural networks
operative in the brain can be achieved.
* The practice of inner silence; it is common
knowledge that unless we make something empty first
we cannot bring in something new. The electrical and
chemical activity of the brain generates a constant
flow of thoughts, emotions and ideas. We experience
this flow as our consciousness, but this is not
exactly true. By giving time to silence we create
space for deeper and higher levels of our being to surface.
* Once we have trained the instrument of our
intelligence, we can proceed with improving and
accumulating our practical skills, such as
observation, analysis, understanding, interaction and communication.
* Finally it is important to recognize that in every
situation both positive as well as negative energies
are involved. And no amount of positive input will
have the expected result if counter currents are not
subsided or removed.
Our experience comes from our mistakes. And our
wisdom comes from our experience. So our wisdom
comes from our mistakes. But just making mistakes
cannot bring us wisdom. We have to realize and
rectify our mistakes. That experience brings us
wisdom and success. Archimedes said, ‘give me a lever long enough, and I can shift the world.’
People who look at life with wrong approach and
attitude see life as misery. But looking at life and
observing it carefully shows it is a mystery.
Finding the right tool is a way to decode the
mystery. The way to success. Join us. Walk the path
of inspiration.
rdeekshithar [at] yahoo [dot] com
