CONTROLING MIND:-
According
to Bhagwat Gita told by lord Sri Krishna controlling mind is not so difficult,
anyone can control mind by practice again and again. Mind is like a bucking
horse, like a bunking horse is uncontrolled but if you try to control it again
and again it will be yours and you will be the master of the horse and the
horse will do what you want. Like that if you try to control your mind again
and again you will be the master of your mind and you will control it your mind
cannot control you.
Problem Solving and Decision making According to Gita:-
1. “Winning for the real purpose of playing” instead of “Playing
to win”: We have all heard about playing to win. It is better than
living a life where we are playing to lose. The secret of Karma that the Gita
teaches, which is often not understood deeply is that playing, in itself, is
winning. Most of us have heard that the Gita teaches us to renounce the fruit
of action. What it actually entails is that we ought to play the game of life
by revelling in the game, rather than bothering about its consequences.
A mother tells a child, “Go out there and play. I will reward you
with a chocolate.” The mother needs to understand that the child doesn’t need
any other reward. Playing itself is the reward. This is like starting a race at
the finishing line! There is no stress about competition or winning. Running
itself is .
Similarly, when you are solving problems or making decisions,
understand that there is no need for any further reward; being able to express
one’s qualities through the opportunity of problem solving and decision-making
itself is the reward. An author who writes to enjoy the process of writing can
write with the understanding that writing itself is the reward, more than what
comes with the publishing or propagation of his written work.
Playing is very much winning. So, in 2018, bring this attitude in
problem solving and decision-making and experience the possibility that the
consequence of your actions could be the action itself.
2. Go to war against your Internal demons instead of external
situations: The Gita is made out to be a situation where Arjuna is
seeking advice on how he could go to war against his own relatives. The deeper
secret is that the relatives are symbolic. They signify our internal demons.
Lord Krishna exhorts Arjuna in the Gita that there is nothing more welcome to a
warrior than a righteous war.
The deeper message in this that a spiritual warrior is one who
wages an inner war against his own demons, against desires that keep returning
back to entrap him, against his own tendencies that lead him away from his true
nature. Our senses constantly demand our attention. A spiritual warrior fights
his or her own inclination towards sensory pleasures – all while being
detached.
In much the same way, problem solving and decision-making has been
made out to be one where you constantly are fighting external factors including
competition, changing environment, etc. However, in 2018, be inspired by the 18
chapters of the Gita and attempt to vanquish your internal demons first and
your external problems will be solved as well.
3. Listen deeply instead of jumping to conclusions: The
whole first chapter of the Gita is about Arjuna sharing his woes. Called ‘Arjun
Vishad Yog’, the first chapter brings out Arjuna’s despondency as he shares all
the thoughts that disturb him. Krishna listens to him patiently. The teachings
of the Gita begin only in the second chapter when Krishna starts to speak. The
key lesson here is when you are solving problems and making decisions that
involve others, listen to them deeply. Especially when you are solving others’
problems or making decisions for others, seek first to understand before
offering advice.
The other message is that when you are solving your own problems,
have honesty, straightforwardness and total surrender to God like Arjuna. If
you truly listen to your feelings and surrender to God fully, even a state of
despondency attains the character of yoga.
In 2018, Instead of jumping to ideas, conclusions and advice,
practice first staying with the problem by listening deeply to your feelings
and further surrender them to God.
4. Clearly seeing instead of blind living: The
Gita has several lessons about the importance of clearly seeing instead of
blindly acting out of compulsion. The Gita itself is a divine song where
Sanjaya is seeing what is happening in the battlefield through his divine sight
detachedly without bias and is communicating to the blind King.
Clear seeing essentially requires us to realize our true nature
beyond thoughts. When we are unable to see clearly, we tend to be driven by our
thoughts that arise as impulsive reaction in situations. We need to raise our
awareness towards the working of the mind so as to bring its exploits to light
and respond from the standpoint of higher awareness. One powerful way of
raising our awareness is to ask key questions to ourselves when we find the mind
drifting away.
Clear seeing enables us to also dissolve problem situations.
Seeing the situation as a problem is the only problem. When we look at
situations through the lens of our beliefs, we build resistance. Resistance
causes the problem to persist. Problems that occur at a given level of
awareness can never be resolved at the same level of awareness. We need to
raise our awareness to be able to witness clearly. With clear seeing from a
higher awareness, the problem no longer remains a problem.
In 2018, practice clear seeing when you are solving problems and
making decisions. The most important thing to clearly see is that you are a
part of the problem too. Question yourself from time to time about your motives
and your perceptions, so as to bring biases, prejudices and limitations to
light. Clear seeing dissolves our faulty perceptions and transforms our lives
from blind living to awakened living.
5. Decide from the centre instead of deciding abruptly or
impulsively: As the Mahabharata indicates, Arjuna was filled with deep
sorrow on seeing all his elders, teachers, cousins, friends and relatives in
the enemy camp. But despite his sad state, Arjuna asks Krishna to take him to
the centre of the battlefield. He receives guidance from Krishna at the very centre.
Arjuna could have sought the solution without moving to the centre of the
battlefield. After all Krishna was his charioteer and all Arjuna had to do was
to seek simply ask Krishna for guidance wherever he was. Perhaps, Arjuna knew
that divine guidance cannot be received without reaching the centre – our
hearts (tejasthan).
We receive guidance only when we reach our centre. In times of
stress, we move away from the centre. In fact is it is precisely during moments
of stress that we should shift to our centre. Arjuna was relieved of his stress
only after he came to the centre. To imbibe the habit of taking decisions and
solving problems from the centre, you may practice the 4-8-18 technique.
The idea behind the 4-8-18 technique is that depending on the nature
of the problem, you will either meditate for 4 minutes or 8 minutes of 18
minutes. For small problems, 4 minutes is enough. For serious problems and key
decisions, you may consider 18 minutes. For things in between, 8 minutes is
suggested. During this time, practice any meditation, especially those that
lead you to a no-mind state. That is when you are in touch with your own
centre. Once this time has passed, you may then take the decision practicing
clear seeing – as elucidated above by also seeing yourself as the part of the
problem.
Lord Krishna on
Decision making:-
- Be in calm mind:Lord Krishna “ Undoubtedly, O Arjuna, the mind is restless
and difficult to restrain, but it is subdued by any constant vigorous
spiritual practice -- such as meditation -- with perseverance, and by
detachment, O Arjuna. (6.35) The primary step of dealing a
situation is free and calm mind with no noise. This takes a lot of effort.
What Krishna advises that first one should free himself from the problem
mentally and physically or see the problem as a third party, who is
unbiased. For example , sometimes when we are searching for some lost
articles , we run the replay of the sequences in our mind and try to
visualize us as third parties, it’s kind of that.
- Give up on result:- Lord Krishna told that we have right to do work don’t have right
to gain result by our selves, because we can do work, can we decide the
result or can we change the result ? These
are the most used words of the Bhagavad Gita and often referred to
as nishkam karma, doing action without expecting
reward: You have control over doing your respective duty only, but no
control or claim over the results. The fruits of work should not be your
motive, and you should never be inactive. (2.47) Most
of our decision making time revolves around the future consequence of the
decision like what will happen if I fail, what will people think of me
etc. Think about when you were child , we used to put your entire
concentration on inputs like drawing a painting or making a clay toy and
never thought about whether it was maintain the correct colour code or in
right shape or not. You were happy with your Karma only and the day we
started thinking of the result, the appreciation and consequence to be
précised, we are in the trap of decision making dilemma.
- Don't give in to stress:In the world full of
intolerance, anxiety, presumptions and agitation , these words by Lord
Krishna brings the most relevance : The one by whom others are not agitated
and who is not agitated by others, who is free from joy, envy, fear, and
anxiety, is also dear to Me. (12.15) In life get rid of
excessive worry, don't take on more than you can cope with and add enough me-time in your day to help you
de-stress. Many busy CEOs and great decision makers allow sufficient time
to themselves to be in his own. It may be just walking or sitting idle.
Main thing is in that time you are not fighting for any objective.
- Be open to change: Lord Krishna told that
change is the rule of the World. Arjuna, when inertia is predominant;
ignorance, inactivity, carelessness, and delusion arise. (14.13) Adding change and
excitement to your activities helps give them a boost. Every once in a
while, when you feel yourself slipping into lethargy or a state of
inertia, stir yourself up, change direction, give yourself a new challenge. Many trainers run the similar program
many a times and it is the almost same flow they follow so the change the
introduction part or ice breaking part in between primarily to make them
happy. Similarly if you get stuck in one way of thinking, you're unlikely
to come up with good solutions; be open to new views of learning and doing
things.
- Conviction is the key: Whatever is done without faith - whether it is sacrifice,
charity, austerity, or any other act -- is useless. It has no value here
or hereafter, O Arjuna. (17.28) Unless one has
conviction on what they are doing what action he takes will have low or no
results.
- Make your standards high: Because whatever noble persons do, others
follow. Whatever standard they set up, the world follows. (3.21) . Once you are
convinced about the action to be done and starting the action, first set
your benchmark high and challenge yourself for excellence because the
decision makers are always followed by average people so setting example
is very necessary.
- See and treat equally: Like king Harischandra,A person is considered superior who is
impartial towards companions, friends, enemies, neutrals, arbiters,
haters, relatives, saints, and sinners. (6.09) People are important
in our lives and it's difficult not to get influenced by them or by our
equations with them. But that's exactly what Lord Krishna says. Treat everyone with the same lens of
impartiality. A person should not get his ancestral business only because
he is son of the owner, he needs to be competent and able to take that
also. Likewise just because someone has picked a fight with you or we are
disconnected with him, don't write them off for good... the event isn't
the person. It’s your territory not the map.
