You are Designed to Bounce Back

There is a lot in life that we are not meant to take seriously - your nasty boss, for instance, or an unkind colleague who put you down. Why remember those who never valued us in the first place? Why recall repeatedly, all those occasions when we were slighted or overlooked?

we were never meant to take these things to heart. And yet we keep running into folks who are discouraged by the slightest thing. There is something inbuilt into life itself that could help us overcome trials and difficulties - a kind of survival mechanism that supports us, teaching us to keep boosting ourselves and our self esteem, particularly when faced with flake.

People are often judging us from a perspective that is narrow. So what if the first draft did not make the mark? What if I failed in a task, or if I did not measure up to the expectations of my colleagues? What if I was not as successful as others would like me to be?

The calm, measured life that I have chosen to lead - no matter if it appears drab and dull to some - may have been rich in content in ways that is not comprehensible to them. May be my ambitions did not drive me to always be on the top. Perhaps I was like a neutral figure in an organization that made heroes of straw men. Perhaps, too, I am remembered for other, more enduring qualities like kindness and compassion?

As I look back, I wonder if it was that rebuff that made me work harder and with greater concentration. It was the downgrade I received that made me assess myself more realistically and helped me build on my real individual strengths and resources. It was the unkindness of others or the cutting remarks made, that made me value myself even more.

Life has so many facets and we do our best to simplify our responses and to unravel its complexities. The process is sometimes long and we are prone to discouragement on the way. But as we travel and journey along, we become more hopeful.

The discouraged person will always find a sympathetic ear, timely advice, and reaffirmation from significant others and unconditional acceptance by those who by their very existence encourage people along the way. So, when we are tired and have reached the end of our tether, we get a helping hand and are uplifted on the way.

Life calls all of us to be encouragers. We can do this well only when we ourselves have been through the pain of rejection and yet survive to emerge accomplished in other ways. We are after all co-travelers on the voyage of life.

Just think: What would have happened if life did not survive the thousands of trails and errors that have gone into the making of it? To succeed like Edison after the 1,000th trail in making the electric bulb is akin to all the other experiences of life - repeated failure, perseverance and success.

As it is so well said, we might only be a hit away from striking gold, so we need to keep at it, no matter how discouraged we are and feel.

Consciousness as Guide

There are infinite levels of consciousness; all is consciousness. This play is infinite; the Divine is infinite; the levels are infinite. God is infinite so everything is infinite. We cannot say that there are 10 levels, 20 levels it’s infinite.

That means the distance between two things. Most of the time we are in the past and when we are in the past, we create a distance. So if we want to go out from the time, we must get free of the past. Or may be we are in the future, and then again, we create a distance between the future and ourselves. We wait for the future and we don’t live now, in the present.

Time is now, but we create distance; we are either in the past or in the future. If we want to get free from time, we must get free from past and future. We have to be always in the present, with the present time in our hands. If we become servile, we lose our freedom with our way of thinking. If we don’t hold on to anything, we are free. If we learn to leave, we will be free.

We hold on and then we say we are not free. Learn to leave fast, never possess, get free from past and future; time will be with you and you will be fully free.

It would be easier to do so by realizing the value of life, of existence. We don’t know the importance of our lives, and that’s why we waste the present moment. We are always absent from life. We are in the past or future with memories of the past and fears of the future. This is normal human life, the way of living always absent from the present.

The power, the joy of the present is so strong, so beautiful and big, that you will not miss your memories. Why do you invoke memories? Because you miss something and when you miss something, you open the album. The power of now, of the present is so great and full that you won’t miss anything.

When we live in the present our capacities grow more. Generally, we have memory of the past to enable us to remember the past. When we live in the present we do not need to rely on memory.

The ultimate aim of nature’s process of making the human consciousness grow is to give us the realization, to increase our consciousness. That’s the only object of life. All the rest are processes or experiments with or without love, with or without suffering. All the tools of nature are working to make humanity more conscious.

Spirituality means to live with that consciousness. Everything is moving and changing but we are witnesses watching the play, not disturbing it, not interfering, just enjoying.

The self is a big word. Bring your self to the front seat so you can direct your own moments. That’s why Sri Aurobindo said: “to grow your consciousness, grow your awareness, your understanding, and your knowledge. If you exist with consciousness, with good understanding, with knowledge, you are able to give direction to your movements. Then, you can tell your mind where to go. But now you have no control; if the mind wants this you go there.” Life is movement and the movement needs a guide. Consciousness is the guide.

Body should be Healthy and Strong

Meaning: The line of Athervaved 5/3/1 says us that – for victory in the struggle in this world, it is necessary that the body be healthy and strong. A weak body does not have that strength and luster by which to rule and lead.

Message: Man is a social animal. He shines with the qualities of mutual cooperation and generosity. He opens many varieties of doors to knowledge, experience, means, production, contemplation and development by cooperating with others through intellectual and active cooperation and can move forward on the road to progress. But not every man can do this. There are also wicked, men with bad tendencies and bad conduct in the society who work for harming others, instead of mutual cooperation. They go on spreading bad thoughts, bad habits, bad customs and anarchy everywhere. Government can punish some criminals, provide the means for economic progress, but it is beyond
Government’s control to abolish individual foolishness, wickedness, social corruption and disorganizations.

In a democracy, the responsibility for human and societal reforms is that of public servants or social workers. They have to provide leadership to the society on this front. Only such men can be capable in raising high the level of the society and the nation. For that, first one’s own individual life has to be made of a high level so as to be able to influence others properly. He has to lay an ideal before the society by his own conduct. By looking at the sorrows and difficulties of others, he has to reduce his own facilities, has to deal courteously and in a civilized manner with others, speak pleasantly and keep his promises, has to adopt the policy of honesty and present the ideal of fulfilling properly his responsibility to the society. It is very difficult to change the bad customs in the society. For that he has to establish the traditions of healthy customs. For reforming the society, for running it and for spreading healthy traditions, constant struggle is required.

To develop such capacity for leadership, physical and spiritual strength is necessary. It is most important that the body be well built and disease-free. Gandhiji was extremely weak in built and very thin, but he had the brightness of spiritual strength which astounded the whole world. The daring produced by profound spiritual strength becomes capable of battling the bad customs of the society. In this battle there is resistance from every side, ridicule and non cooperation from the people and the social reformer has to make the tremendous effort of swimming against the current. Only with strong health at both individual and societal levels, the bliss and contentment of material and spiritual progress like that of civilized and organized people can be achieved.

This is the only royal road to victory in the struggle in this world.

Air is Life

Meaning: According to the line of Samved 1841 – Air is life, it is health –giving and hence taking in this life-giving air in the dawn gives as much happiness as a father, brother or a friend.

Message: Real beauty in the world is in Nature only. Whatever attempts we may make to increase our beauty with artificial means, but the health, energy and beauty obtained by our body through contact with Nature is superior in many ways. By observing the rule of Nature and by exercise and natural food, balanced development of the muscles takes place and every limb shines with beauty. By regular breathing of happiness-giving air in the dawn and by physical exercise, man becomes disease-free and long-lived. If we wish to be strong, powerful and brave then we must adopt this regular daily routine.

Regularity has great importance. Most people get up in the dawn just for 3-4 days, do a little exercise and then put a full-stop to it. In this way, it will only cause harm instead of benefit. One should cultivate a habit of getting up daily at a fixed time and taking exercise. Doing regular exercise is a very good habit, which has a surprisingly good effect not only of increasing physical strength but also mental strength. The best and cheapest medicine for producing good appetite and good sleep is to do hard labor throughout the day. But the magic of exercise is special. Its effect is not limited to the body only, but it also facilitates cleansing up of one’s nature and increases willpower. The wrestler exercising for two hours in the gymnasium is more powerful than the black-smith beating the iron by the forge throughout the day. The reason for it is the enthusiasm connected with exercise. The feeling at that time is of the worship of health and the psychological effect of that faith influences our health.

The body becomes rock-like, beautiful and well-proportioned by regular exercise and regular games, the power to bear hunger, thirst, heat and cold is produced, the muscles become energized, the lungs becomes strong, the blood purified, intelligence sharpened, longevity achieved, disease and old age do not dare to come even nearby and death always remains away. Depending on the region and the kind of time prevailing, indigenous and light exercise, and yogaasana must be performed and games played. To imitate foreign countries and to run after cricket, tennis and other such costly games is a crime against the nation. This does not also mean that we should spend the entire time in exercise or games. One should arrange a time-slot according to one’s needs and partake of the fresh air of the dawn and take exercise. This is the best arrangement for remaining healthy. The evening can be utilized for some game or taking a walk, but it must be remembered that even though the available time may be less, there should be regularity.

A regular routine makes the life pleasant.S

Achieve the Objective of Life

Meaning: The line of the Athervaved 19/60/1 says us the truth about our objective. May the power of air never get destroyed from my mouth, or the vitality of air from the nose, nor vision from the eyes, and hearing from the ears? May my hair not turn grey, may my teeth remain firm and may there be strength in my hands.

Message: According to Nepalese tradition, man’s life is divided into four phases called ‘aashrams’ God has granted a life of one hundred years to man and the rishis (sages) have allotted 25 years to each phase of life called “Brahmacharya, Gruhastha, Vanaprastha and sanyaas aashrams. The first 25 years of life are for observing brahmacharya (celibacy and closeness to God), learning and developing the body. The next 25 years are for discharging one’s responsibilities to the family, the next 25 years are for the joint-endeavor of self development and doing public welfare activity while simultaneously making the family self dependent and cultured. The last 25 years are for freeing oneself from the attachment to the family, and complete surrender to God and nation while moving around in the country. This wise and practical division of life-span is applicable and useful for the present times also.

Will it be enough if we get a hundred years life span by the grace of God? To enjoy the happiness of this long life, full energy and freedom from disease are necessary. Only then one gets happiness in life. Otherwise dragging around a diseased body for a hundred years is like severe punishment. Therefore it becomes a man’s duty to maintain his diet, conduct and dealings etc in such a way that be remains fully healthy while achieving longevity, keeping his eyes, ears, nose, and teeth working at full capacity and there is no slackening of life’s vitality.

Suppose by the grace of God, along with a hundred years life-span, good health is also maintained, then will that be enough and life’s objective achieved? No. What is the use of mere physical fitness? Even more important is mental and spiritual health. In their absence, the physical strength will be misused as it was misused by the demon king Ravan and by the wicked Duryodhan and man will not be able to see beyond selfishness, attachment and greed. All his energies or powers will be used in the pursuit of wealth and more wealth and still more for all the facilities and comforts. By being immersed in the desires for children, money and fame, his activity will increase for exploiting others. Everywhere there will be an atmosphere of plunder, robbery and fights. Their energies will be utilized in creating the scenario of ‘might is right’. The man trapped in the whirlpool of desires will neither himself be happy nor will allow others to be happy.

Along with physical health, mental personal and spiritual level also should be excellent for achieving happiness, peace, prosperity and contentment in individual, familial and societal life. We can achieve the objective of life on the basis of such good efforts.