The Simple Joy of Living from a Grateful Heart

If you look to others for fulfillment,
you will never truly be fulfilled.
If your happiness depends on money,
you will never be happy with yourself.
Be content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.

Lao Tzu

Charming Others

Much energy is wasted in trying to charm others.
And in wanting to charm - I tell you, the opposite happens.

[Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Seva and the Art of Enthusiasm]

Integrity, Intelligence and Energy

Integrity, Intelligence and Energy.
If you don't have the first two,
the third one will kill you.
[Warren Buffett]

TWIST Comment: I came across this while watching a recording of the talk delivered to a class of MBA's. Obviously, it was targeted at a high achievement oriented audience who were raring to get going and make a lot of wealth and money. Still, this could be one of the essential mantras for anyone in any walk of life today. Coming from one of the richest individuals of our times, one would have expected the words to be flipped over starting with high energy - but that is not the case. I'm sure this would have been a good perspective check for the audience to channelise their high energies to the right places. As the world is getting dangerous despite progress in various fields of life, Integrity from individuals, Integrity from groups, Integrity from corporations and governments is essential and needs to be at the heart of any sensible work.

Purpose of life

Ask yourself 'What do I need?'
Then repeat to yourself what you found.

TWIST Comment: We've all come to live life without ever knowing or being told what our purpose of life is. There are several theories and literatures that try to explain this. Some of them are ever more convincing that the others. My view of this is very simple.
If God appears in front of you tomorrow (I bet he will, but most certainly we will not recognize God), and asks, 'what do you need?'. Will we ever have an answer? Let it not wait till tomorrow. Instead, start asking yourself now. It might take a few minutes or a few hours or even days if you are really serious about answering it.
Assuming you come up with a few needs, think how far reaching it can be into your life to achieve those. If it's something you can achieve in 3, 5 or 10 years, then you'll have to do this exercise frequently. A better idea would be to think of something that you'll need for the rest of your life.
If you know what it is that you need for the rest of your life, then you have an answer for the purpose of life too. Nobody else need to spell that for you. It comes from inside you and there is no disputing the authenticity of it. If you do not feel you need it, you would not have listed it in the first place. If you've listed it, then you are here right now doing this, because that was to be your purpose in life.
Where to go from here? There is nowhere else to go, just start from where you are and the rest of it will find you. All you need to do is acknowledge the need in you. This can change over a period of time as your maturity in a role you play increases - do not dispute it. Accept it and life goes on.

Virtue without meditation

Virtue without meditation is an imposition, a forced imposition.
Virtue without meditation is repressive.
Virtue without meditation is pseudo.
Virtue without meditation is just a façade: you can deceive others, but how can you deceive yourself?
With meditation there arises a totally different kind of virtue: a natural virtue, a spontaneous virtue.

(Osho)

Merely an Instrument

tasmat tvam uttistha yaso labhasva
jitva satrun bhunksva rajyam samrddham
mayaivaite nihatah purvam eva
nimitta-matram bhava savya-sacin

Therefore get up. Prepare to fight and win glory.
Conquer your enemies and enjoy a flourishing kingdom.
They are already put to death by My arrangement, and you,
O Savyasaci, can be but an instrument in the fight.

(Bhagavad Gita)

TWIST Comment: For those of you who know the backdrop against which the above verses are recited, try to reflect on it with your inner mental dynamics rather than external ones. To me, the preachings of Gita are a parable worth reflecting on oneself. The war depicted isn't the one fought outside, but inside every human being. What you see inside you see outside too.

In this verse, the core message is that we are merely an instrument. It might be difficult for the modern mind to accept this concept without challenging it. However, reflect upon the most successful or the most unsuccessful events of your life so far. How many things happened to the plan every time? What surprises did you get while executing the plans? Somewhere in the core of our being we all have a realisation that not everything was a result of the hard work or the lack of it. Maybe it's one's vision to reach somewhere that has guided one to the space they are in now. Maybe it's a form of divine intervention. Or its a great help of someone. There can be very rare incidents of a pure self-will and methodical planning bearing results. This does not mean one should desist planning or performing one's duty. The essence is to develop a sense of gratitude and humility that helps one to keep level headed.

For those of you unaware of Bhagavad Gita, I would recommend an Internet search to know at least a few things about one of the profound literatures known to man.

Glow

Don't just grow
Give your best and glow

TWIST Comment: We all grow old as days pass by. As we grow there is always an aspiration to grow more and reach somewhere that we think is more promising than the current state.

A business man thinks of the future and sees his business grow two-fold or three-fold in five years.

A worker wants to gain more experience and become a specialist in his field and yearns to cross the next five years as quickly as possible.

A five-year-old aspires to be taller and stronger like the ten-year-old neighbour.

We all want to grow up. Growing up is not bad at all. In fact growing up is vital to existence and sustenance of all life forms. Growing old is natural and effortless, but growing up needs effort an maturity.

As you grow, draw attention to the glow. Watch how good or bad you are in the 'here and now'. This will improve the quality of growing up. At every stage ask yourself 'am I doing things right', 'am I being useful', 'am I doing the right thing'.

Glow at every stage of your growth.