LIFE BETTER FOR US THAN IS WAS FOR OUR FOREFATHERS

One day I read about ‘Laughter’s Club’ in Mumbai where people of all ages get together in order to keep themselves healthy. I was amused and had a hearty laugh myself. But that was about four years back. Today I also feel the need of joining such a club at the age of sixteen inspite of the fact that  I have a very loving, understanding family; all material comforts at my disposal and above all, no psychological stress for a particular career. Yet the cut throat competition and immoral practices adopted  do not let me relax and enjoy life. When my elders tell me about carefree childhood and incidents of their naughtiness, I wonder why I can’t have the similar experiences? They led a simpler and perhaps materialistically hard life but they have a repository of such happy memories !

An old saying goes “ If everyone does what is his father did we would still be living in caves”. Today every-one is running after money. There are many who talk of values and morals but a few who really care for these. Corruption has become the order of the day. It seems as if everybody has become corrupt. The world generally and relationships in particular have changed altogether. Gone are the days when a students as his own children. What does this show? That we have lost our moral values. We have better resources. Our lives have been overwhelmed with scientific discoveries and inventions. Our homes are no less than show room of electronic devices which provide us with comfort and entertainment. The world has shrunk owing to fast and easy modes of communication. But do these achievements imply happiness and peace of mind? The answer is a big ‘No’. 

Howadays the respect of a person is evaluated in proportion to the wealth he has. Things like cars, motorbikes, bungalows, costly electronic appliance, all have become status symbols. The craving to own all these is leading to various kinds of crimes. People and especially youngsters want to become rich overnight without working hard. Easy money has become the aim of their life. Television and cinema show novel ways of crime. The immature minds cannot differentiate between good and evil; reality and fiction. Women who once were considered the torch-bearers of goodness, traditions and sanskars; incarnation of love affection and full of compassion are being shown as schemers, plotters-a far cry from the likes of Sita, Lopamudra, Rani Jhansi or even Kalpana Chawla.

Education should have made us better human beings, but it pains me to say that in most of us, it has rather evoked negative feeling of jealousy and hatred. We do not feel happy to see other people’s progress. Adolescents like me are so engrossed in their studies that they do not even find time to appreciate and admire simple things of nature. Science and technology have no doubt made our life comfortable and hitech, but, along with this, brought many dreadful diseases, pollution and what not as ‘gifts’. Every day we hear of new diseases. There so many types of pollutions that even scientists are worried about the very existence of mankind.

In the name of modernization, let us not destroy this world. Our country has been known as ‘Spiritual Guru’ of the world since time immemorial. We should be careful enough to make distinction between good and bad. Let us adopt new ideas which can take us and our country on the path of progress without forgetting our moorings. We should shed the orthodox customs and rituals which have proved to be shackles and once again have faith in the maxim of ‘Vasudeva Kutumbam’

It is not that we should go back in time but then we should not follow everything in the name of modernism. We shall have to strike a balance.

LEARNING TO EXHALE

Relaxation strategies can be extremely helpful and useful. Relaxation can help you to better manage stress, tension and anxiety, help you perform better at work and remain calmer in any situation. It can be used at work or at home, on the bus or while you are standing in a queue.

This method of relaxation is usually referred to as controlled breathing. It is most effective in reducing anxiety and helps you to keep calm. It is quick and easy to use anywhere and anytime. Make yourself comfortable and then breathe slowly and evenly. Quietly say to yourself ‘in’ when you breathe in, and ‘relax’ when you breathe out. Repeat this over and over again. Focus as much as you can on these two simple words. Imagine that with every breath out, each time you say relax, you are becoming more and more clam and relax. If you get distracted or if your thoughts wander, refocius as often as you need to. Don’t forget practice is the key.

THE AMAZING POWER OF SILENCE

   An intelligent man should restrain his speech and his mind. “When we are aware that thoughts have distracted us, we return again. At first we may notice cretin restlessness, but after some minutes the mind will settle down to a quieter level, and then become deeper and more silent, “merged into nothingness.”   

There is a power in silence that has been stressed again and again. as we sit in innocent silent reflection trying of free ourselves from the worldly attachments your mind wanders, flies off at a tangent, responding to some inner or outer impulse of our physical, animal aspect. We should not concern ourselves with these thoughts, or blame our mind for waywardness, but let go, consuming those thoughts with the mention of God. “Observe silence and refrain from idle talk, “Baha ‘u’llah reminds us. Likewise, the kena Upanishad says:

Rapt in silence we achieve transcendence, the level of purity where no other thing dwells but the holy spirit. It is a purification of the whole human system, when both body and mind are cleansed and repose in undisturbed tranquility. Baha’u’llah describes this as “ the plane of the self which is well pleasing unto God” and quotes a mystic : “ Oh, thou soul which art at rest, return to thy lord, well-pleased, and pleasing Him…. Enter thou may paradise.” The Power of silence to link up to the Divine is a power of integration that can help up in our collective life. We human being are richly endowed with a “capacity with the other.” Baha’u’llah tells us to be even as one soul from inmost being. If we heed this counsel we could be aware that only in deep silence are we thus attuned. While we speak, our differences are clearly manifest, but when we are joined together in stillness our minds will be knit to that most great concern and there empowered for accomplishing greater things.