TAKE IT EASY

Many times, when somebody is angry or disturbed, we used to say him ‘take it easy’.  But when we are in the same situation, we are unable to take it easy. Why?

The words we use have a meaning in them. Instead of using them with the meaning in the mind, we use it habitually. They are not more than a recorded tape. Same is the case with ‘take it easy’. To understand it more, let’s divide it into two parts. First is ‘take it’ and the second is ‘easy’.

‘Take it’ says,

The situation may not be as we have expected it should be. In fact, the situation has nothing to do with our expectations or should be. It just happens. There is nothing wrong or right in it. Wrong and right are created by the human mind. When we are not ready to accept the situation, the fight begins. When anything unexpected happens, we first deny them. The moment we deny, disappointment and anger starts. In this state of mind we cannot think of coming out of that situation. So first we have to learn to accept everything. Do not resist. Do not deny. Simply ‘take it’.

‘Easy’ says,

Easiness means without any efforts. It is just like breathing.  When we do something with lots of efforts, there will be a time when we will get tired and we will put it aside. We can’t do that anymore. When a painter paints there are no efforts but joy. When a poet writes there is a tremendous joy inside.  One cannot paint or write with efforts if there is no joy for doing it. It cannot be done just for the show off. It may be tried with efforts but soon there will be end of it. When we do something for no reason, just for the joy of doing it, it happens easily.

Now when we accept anything, the acceptance is of two types.

We accept the situation but still there is a pain inside. The fight is continue inside. But we just show that we have accepted the situation. In this case it will more harmful to us. When we show other than the actual, it the biggest fight that can happen inside. Only frustration can come out of it. So take it easy says, when you accept the situation, accept it with the full heart. There should not be any fight inside. Accept it easily.

Now the question arises how we can accept anything easily. The only hurdle in accepting anything is our assumption of the situation. How things should be, is the most common subject on which our thoughts run continuously. When we stop deciding anything, when we don’t have any choice about anything, there cannot be any fight. Whatever comes, we are ready to accept. When we keep this in mind, no situation can disturb us. When there is no disturbance in mind, there will not be any anger. When there is no anger, we can address the situation the way it should be addressed.

So next time when you say ‘take it easy’, keep its meaning in mind and the situation will become easy for you.

Perfectly Imperfect

The Principal of a school decided one day to check the progress of the pre-primary class. He made a surprise visit and asked the class teacher to sit in the teacher’s room. When the class teacher left the class, every student had given a blank paper and a pencil. Then the principal told the students to write A to Z on the given paper in 10 minutes. After 10 minutes everybody was told to stop writing. The principal stood up to collect the papers from the students. The first student was able to write the up to Q and after that he had written only Q many times. Another student was stuck on W. someone was on G, someone was on J and so on. The Principal was amazed. He collected all the papers wrote the student’s name on the back side of the paper. Then he asked a student, why you have not written the next letter after Q. The student replied, whenever I write A to Z, I get a red circle on the letter Q and then I have to keep writing the Q many times until it’s a perfect Q. He asked another student who stuck on W, it was the same story.

The Principal smiled and gave them another paper. He told all the students that this time only 5 minutes will be given to write the A to Z and no red circles will be mark if any alphabet is not written perfectly. The students were very happy. Everybody completed the A to Z and the inspection was over.

The principal then called the class teacher in his office.  He said, each and every student of your class completed the ABCD. The class teacher was happy. But there is a problem; I have forgotten to write the name of the student on his paper. The class teacher saw the first paper and he saw the letter Q. Immediately he told, this must be of Rohan. The principal said how you knew that. He said he never write the Q properly. Then the principal wrote Rohan on the corner of the paper. He said check the other also. The class teacher told the W is not perfect so this can be of Kartik only. The J is not perfect means it is of Ravi and so on. He wrote all the names one by one.

The Principal then asked him to turn the page. Every page had a name of the student in the back side. The class teacher was puzzled. He asked the principal, sir if you have already written the name of the students behind the paper, why have you asked me to recognize the papers? The Principal then showed him the paper of the 1^st trial. The class teacher was shocked to see it. He asked the principal why the students done like this. The principal replied, they don’t like the red circle you put on the alphabet and they have the habit to stick on the imperfect letter and repeat it until it is perfectly written.  Now tell me one thing, how did you recognize the student from their paper. The class teacher replied by their imperfect letters. The principal replied that, the imperfection is the identity of each and every student. In fact, its may be imperfect your way but for now it is his style of writing. And there is no problem in any type of Q until it can be read as Q. Even my Q is not as perfect as per your perfect Q.  Its good to teach perfection but it is very dangerous to stick on the imperfection.  The class teacher realized the mistake.

Like the story above, we also stick on the imperfections. We have made a certain definition of the Perfect and we want it that way only. We can’t accept the thing out of our way. We just don’t like it and our life stick there. Most of our struggles begin because we want something our way, the perfect way.  We do this with people also. We want them our way. Either they have to change themselves or we will not like them. We can’t accept them as they are. We should understand that everybody can’t be like ourselves and life will be very boring if everybody is the same. Everywhere you go you meet the same person. Do we really like that? What we call the imperfection is their identity, their own way.

It is perfectly okay to be imperfect in something. Nobody is perfect in everything. Many times we are that much behind making something perfectly our own way that we can not enjoy the things which is already perfect. We simply miss them. We should stop running in making everything perfect and learn to enjoy the imperfections also. This is only possible when we stop thinking in terms of should be and should not be. Let’s learn to accept the things, the way they are. Life never gives everything in our way because life has its own way.

Let’s learn to live in the suchness of life. The Buddha called it Tathata.

Pollution Under Control

When a vehicle is spreading pollution in environment, we give it a treatment to control it and get a PUC (Pollution under Control) certificate. Have we ever thought how much pollution we are spreading as a human being through our thoughts, words and behavior?

Some days ago, I was at city post office. There was a big queue at one of the windows for submitting the application forms of government recruitment exams. People were standing in queue for hours as the process was very slow and only one computer operator was available. It was nearly 2 hours remaining to close the window for that day and a guy came to submit his application. It was almost impossible for him to submit it that day as the queue was very long. After about ten minutes he started talking how this whole system is stupid and how they should improve. In no time, many others also started speaking the same language as they were also tired by standing in queue and there was a chaos. Some of them rush to the postmaster to complain about this. Postmaster said I am helpless because only one person here knows the process so I can’t appoint another person. The process will be as it is. All were again in the queue but with the frustrated mind. Before that guy had come, all were standing in queue, chatting with each other peacefully. What the guy has done, he spread all his negative thought to the crowd and in minutes whole crowd was negative. The height is they all were the applicant for a government job and just by the words of that guy they started speaking negative about the government system. This is pollution.  

This not the case with that particular guy, it is with all of us. We can’t control our negative thoughts or feelings and spread it to the people nearby us. If you observe when a group of people meet and chat, only one negative sentence is enough to turn the whole discussion on negative side. If we have a problem and we are negative about something we should keep it to ourselves only. There is no need to make others negative for it. Let them have their own point of view and experience. It is very much possible that their experience be on a positive side.

Many of us have habit of speaking in harsh tones. Sometimes we express a basic day to day conversation in such a harsh way that it hurts people around us. We may do this unconsciously because of a habit but this is also a kind of pollution. It creates a negative environment. Harsh words sometimes become the reason for big loss also. If you are speaking harsh, it just a matter of habit. You can always replace that habit with speaking lovingly and gracefully. Most of the time, we speak harsh words because something is not happening the way we have expected. Be relaxed. You can always put forward your point of view by kind words also and that too in a better way.

One day I was stuck in traffic. I was behind an auto rickshaw.  A large amount of smoke was coming out of its silencer. After sometime I had no option but to control my own breathing to avoid the smoke going inside me. This incident taught me a wonderful lesson to stay unaffected from the pollution. CONTROL YOUR BREATHING. Just like the body breaths the air, mind breaths the thoughts. When you come across anybody who is polluting the environment by negative thoughts or words, control the breathing of your mind. Don’t let the negativity come inside you. Let your mind analyze the situation and take the decision. Be quiet and gentle towards the people who are speaking harsh. You can always discuss with them when they are calm.

When we stop spreading this kind of pollution to others and don’t let others polluting ourselves, then only the pollution will be under control totally. So let’s analyze and get ourselves the PUC.

GOD is on leave

One find Sunday morning there was a public notice in the sky written by the God. It’s said,

“We, the so called GODS, will be unavailable from today. We are going on a vacation as we need a break. All our branches like temples, Church etc. may remain open but we will not be present there. All are requested to find the solution of their problem on their own as we will not be able to work on it. You can also take a break from your prayers if you wish. Our availability will be declared the same way.  Sincere apology for inconvenience.”

Issued in the public Interest

-   GOD

Chichi The Sparrow

Chichi, a sparrow, used to visit the nearby house everyday and sit near the window. She was very much impressed with the facilities available in the house. One day she thought if she can become a human being, her life will be so easy. Small chichi prayed to the God. God asked her what she wants. She told that I want to become a woman. God laughed and said it’s not possible. Chichi was not ready to listen anything. God asked why you want to become like human being? She said man has developed their world so beautifully. There is a house to live in. There are So many facilities and equipment that make the life very easy.  Many things are available for their enjoyment. I also want to live that life. The God said okay, I will give you a chance but only for 3 months. Chichi was very much happy. Now she is going to live in that house for 3 months like a young girl.

Thank You BAPU

Because I Am Grown Up Now

I don’t cry when I felt so……………………..…......... Because I am grown up now

I don’t laugh a loud…………………….….…………..  Because I am grown up now

I don’t shout when I am overjoyed……….…..….…….Because I am grown up now

I am not crazy now………………….………....….…... Because I am grown up now

Pleasure and Pain

                There is a small story. A person was sitting with his friends. He was very sad. His friends asked him what happened. He said my shoes hurt me a lot. They said, then change the shoes. He said, I can’t. They asked, why? He said I am already very disturbed. The friends felt strange. They asked what you mean by that. He said, my daughter was in love with a drunkard and recently they got married. My wife is fighting with cancer. I am in a debt. Friends said then you must change the shoes immediately. At least one trouble will be solved. He said I can’t do that because every evening when I go to home and remove the shoes, I feel very relaxed and happy. It’s the shoes that give me pleasure. 

Log in & Log out

All of us today know what is Log in and Log out. For most of us it’s a part of daily activity. We do it mechanically but it can be a very useful tool to live a happy and peaceful life.

What actually happens when we log in is we have certain type of access like for email, for bank account, for company software etc.  When we log out the access is stopped. This can be a very useful tool if we use it for our thought process. Our mind is like a super computer. It can run so many thoughts simultaneously. All we are continuously doing is THINKING. When we have to perform a task and so many other thoughts are running in our mind, they don’t let us to concentrate on that task effectively. So we can’t work with our full potential.  Sometimes we are sitting in the office and thinking about a family or a social problem or anything else. Same as when we are with family thinking about office, friends or anything else. We can’t be 100% present where we are.

Small Wonder

A few days ago, the spring of my bike’s main stand broken. It was very difficult to park the bike because it couldn’t stand properly. I realized that the whole bike can stand properly because of a small spring. I have never paid any attention to that small spring since I bought the bike. After that I have noticed that there are so many small but important parts which are very important to run the bike properly. This incident taught me some very important lessons.

THE PRESENT MOMENT

                Life is a book which can be read page by page. There is no way we can read the next page and that’s the beauty of life. But are we enjoying this beauty?

                Most of the time either we live in the past or in future dreams.  So the beauty of present moment is always missing. We can’t be the witness of beautiful things happening in the present moment. Deep inside we know that there is no meaning of thinking about past or future but if we carefully watch our thoughts most of them are about past of future only. What is the reason?

The Happiness Bag

The admission officer of the college hostel, introduced  Vishesh and Manav as room partners. They have allotted the same room to live in for the next 3 years. Both were excited to see their new room.

Room was at a good location. It was on the top floor of a four story building. Near their balcony there was a big neem tree. They have begun to check the room. There were all necessary equipments for a routine life. Vishesh found that the wooden cupboard was not very safe to put the valuable things as it can be broken easily. He told manav regarding this. Manav was also agreed with him but vishesh didn’t find him worried about it.