A ONE AND HUNDRED MILES AWAY FROM HOME

How far from here is a place for growth and learning? Where are the metaphysical centres? How far do I need to go to find out why I’m doing what I’m doing? How far before I rework my life and recondition myself. How far to change what needs to be changed? How do I know change what needs to be changed? How do I get to where can improvge on myself? These questions were rolling in my head.

Soon the rolling became a rumbling. Life moved things are such an amazing speed that I cannot but be enthralled by the beauty of it all. Why would I want to set time aside for study after so many years in the visual midia? Why should a normal [maybe not] and happy person like me question things so much/ what was I looking for? I was looking for something that lay buried. I could find the location myself by trial and error but a road map would definitely help. My mind took me to a healing center and school in New York. Then it took me to north India. Then to my surprise I found myself in Pondycherry. After contemplating travelling across a continent, a hundred miles from where I lived was not a bad deal at all.

The Ananda ashram or the International Center for Yoga education and research in Pondycherry is a lovely place. But the architecture did not match up to the acrs of open space I had in mind. Speak of my –mega movie mentalitay. Yet I discovered a lovely garden athat not many ventured into. My animal brain had already marked my territory there; not that anyone ever competed for it. It was my little space. I frequented it often, either to practice my “Hakaras”[a yogic exercise], my singig or to just be. The space opended up an expanse within.

The acharya, Meenakshi Devi and the few students she took each year did not have halos around their heads. Were they not supposed to wear long pointed hats! My stay there happened before exposure to Haryy Potter and I drew my inspiration from fairy tales. I met her week before the program started and I committed to staying for three months in the gurukula.

No leaving the ashram for typing out the assignments and buying some essentials. I was not looking to be entertined and I was finenwith it. I could always leave, I told myself. I did not have to endure anything. Especially after decided to keep a check on my masochistic side. I stayed on, not just for three months but for six, and also went back there for another month, and will go back there for regular stays. The road maps proved there were too well drawn out, to not move ahead.

The rhythm of the programme was set. The wake up call at 4.30 a.m, pooja, chanting, quiet sitting, hatah yoga and raja yoga practices, anatomy and physioogy, yoga chikitsa, mantra, Sanskrit, bhajans. Two meals a day and soup being the last meal at 6.00pm, not forgetting Satsangha from 7.00-9.30 pm. In between, we had to write our assignments and could choose to learn carnatic music and bharatnatyam. Amma, as Meenakshi Devi is lovingly called, took only five students that year. I was one among them. Now surely, I must learn to fly at the end of such intensive work. If not atleast read auras. But as the course progressed none of that seemed to matter.

My original questions were being taken care of. How do I work on myself, how do I grow? The adult in me took over the child, which was fascinated by magic. The magic of life was too strong to ignore. The discipline instilled and the ability to put time to good use were worth than any magic portion. The real magic lies in our ability to deal with time and space.

The more I distanced myself from my patterns and observed, the less I was caught up in my own dramas. I learnt to acknoledge the animal as well as the divine in me. I learnt to see the escapist as well as the realist in me. I thanked god for the greatest blessing of making me happy to be me. I left the ashram with more of myself. That was a wish fulfilled.

The Swayamthaka is a magic gem that grants the owner any wish. Many fake ones were demons disguised as the gem. A man who was looking for it saw the gem a few miles after he started his surch, and thought to himself, that it surely cannot be so. The precious gem could not be so close. So, he traveled many miles for many months and finally saw another Swayamthaka. This was the fake one. He thought that since it was so far from where he started, it must be real. He picked it up and was burnt too ash by the demon. That which is distant or unapprochable, though dangerous, seems precious.

In the story of the Alchemist by Pauto Coelho also, the boy travels the world before he is led back to the treasure, which was buried where he had started off. The Ananda ashram is the Swayamthaka that led me back where I started off. It helped me deal with the world in a more balanced way. Not escape it. It is a second home where I have been reconditioned. The qualities I have imbibed have become second nature. The morden gurukula [clan or family of the guru] provided a second family. The name I received there is a resonance of the qualities I have to bring forth from within. [Using the original version now] The guru’s family provided a better set of patterns and conditioning than my own. I was able to appreciate my own family better as it provided the training ground. I could see the continuity of consiousness. Both my homes were only a hundred miles apart.

Amma was a reflection of my own mother who was interested and invested her emotions in my evolution. Swamiji, are flection of my grandfather who instilled love for perfection. My dad a strong reminder of conflicting emotions and the grey areas I had to accept. All of them were a reminder of the forces that I had to grow fom and not escape or negate.

Each of them ultimately was a reflection of me. I had to see the qualities they possessed or that which was complementary in myself. The Swayamthaka gave me tha location of the treasure. Each time the location shifted to apoint closer to me. Dedication, discernment and discipline [as my dad says] will help me get there. I had scoffed many times at those who spoke words that were not reflected in their own lives. Now I take it is a blessing. I know it is the good in them that is giving me the message to find it in myself. The closer I aom to myself, the closer I am to my original home, the abode of the divine. That is where the real treasure lies within me.

I am thankful I did not doubt the authenticity of the Swayamthaka, because it was there without much hype. The Ananda ashram is nota populist place. The proof of the pudding is in the eating and the proof of the teaching is in my own growth and increasing clarity. The Swayamthaka or the wish-granting gem is sometimes so close, that we don’t see it. It lies there without any fanfare and we undermine it. We miss the diamond on the ground and go for the glass on display. Do we need to go around the world and run after the fantasy in our heads or can we learn to appreciate that which is close to us?

HEALTH AWARENESS

What does “Health” mean to you? To most, health indicates a disease-free body. What about disease-free emotions and mind? When a person is not in touch with his body, emotions, mind and spirit it reflects as DIS ease. It is the uneasiness of being in the company of a stranger as opposed to a friend. Due to this DIS ease with himself he escapes into alcohol, television, gossip, power plays, ego trips or activities that further distance himself from himself. A person needs to move towards his true self, his highest potential, else he will manifest this stagnation as disease.

Modern medicine now acknowledges that most diseases are psychosomatic. The human being is a web of connections and one cannot isolate a part and treat it as though the system is independent of it. The pill popping culture is common in India today due to the easy availability of antibiotics and other suppressants over the counter. It is a symptomatic treatment that does not address the root cause of the disease. In fact it causes more harm as the person gets addicted to quick results and does not want to put in effort into self improvement. The individual also become less sensitive to the signals that the body is sending.

Health is the sum total of an individual’s well being. The health of the individual is reflected in a healthy body, healthy expression and processing of emotions, healthy attitudes, a healthy connection to the universal spirit, healthy relationships, healthy work culture, a healthy environment where he can grow and a healthy zest for life. Healthy individuals constitute a healthy society. If we were to take this model of stability and growth, then most of us are unhealthy in some way. This is also reflected in the state of our society.

Yoga is about creating health within and without. The primary disease in Yoga is duality. We live in a state of separateness and feel that whatever we do has no impact on others or ourselves. All of us intellectually understand the law of karma “As you sow, so you reap”, yet it does not reflect in our behavior. This is the lack of alignment or lack of integration. With awareness we can see the disparity between thought and behavior. Then we can unite body and mind and the individual consciousness with supreme consciousness.

Yoga re-balances the system, which has taken the toll of years of neglect or obsessiveness. A balanced attitude towards health is necessary without getting too hung up about it. The simple things in life if practiced go a long way in increasing the well being of the individual. But nowadays it is the packaging that matters, so most fall prey to miracle drugs and savvy advertising. One cannot come to terms with the fact that by changing a sitting position, by working on the breath, reducing intake of junk food changing an attitude, letting go of an emotion, having trust in life, cultivating healthy interests or making active choices, one can alter many conditions. Lifestyle and attitudinal changes go a long way in instilling balance in the system. But lifestyles nowadays are dictated by the consumerist culture. The more you consume the better your ego feels. The consumer is king. Yet there is no kingdom left as the very caretakers have ravaged the earth.

So we must inculcate a reverence for life and what we have. When we value it we will not misuse it. We will be more aware and see the signs of degeneration much earlier and not wait till gangrene sets in. Yet to do away with a part is normal now as a heart or kidney is available for a price. Decay and deadening of the human has started and it is up to each one of us to keep ourselves alive. So be alive to your bodies, to your emotions, to your mind and spirit, and to everything around you. Let us not sleepwalk through our lives.

LADY ON THE SCOOTER

She rides the roads of Pondicherry with a speed that belonged a century ago, happy to accompany the bullock carts and the cycles. She is careful not to allow life to zoom past her. She is in no hurry to get anywhere. No adrenalin rushes for her, a steady pace that allows her to be with herself. Not to confuse her with one who wastes her time. She has more full time jobs than anyone I know. She is the Director of the ” International Centre For Yoga Education and Research”, the resident acharya of the six month programme that trains teachers in Rishiculture Ashtanga Yoga , she runs the Yoganjali Natyalaya that trains non resident students in Baratnatyam, Yoga and Carnatic music in Pondicherry city, the editor of the monthly magazine “Yoga Life”, author of four books and has been awarded the ” Puduvai Kalaimamani ” award for her contribution to Bharatnatyam.

When I met Meenakshi Devi I had no idea she had such an interesting and varied life. She was in a simple old “pavadai” in-skirt and a long kurtha. No airs of being a great achiever. I had taken to her right from the start but I’d decided that I would give it time. No more blind trust, I told myself.

I grew to like her. Love her I did from the start, not because she had all these titles but because it was the easiest thing to do as she exuded warmth and charm. She had the rare quality of being interested in another’s evolution. She was glad to see another’s potential unfold and was instrumental in it. I do not know many who can look at goodness or skill and not feel a pinch of anxiety with respect to themselves. Comparisons creep in and one feels threatened by another’s place in the world. It takes trust in the universal spirit, dignity and love to be as she is. She has seen the depths of pain, yet life to her is celebration. In her eyes I saw vulnerability, yet a Shakthi that grew with every hurdle she faced along the way. She did not have to prove that she knew it all. She was not competing for Miss.Perfect, neither did she have to project what she was not. She had ease and a childlike manner of approaching things. Maybe a bit too straightforward for the Indian panchatantra mentality but she did not have much time to waste.

Meenakshi Devi or Amma is not your regular Media Spiritual Special. She does not have a spate of followers doing errands for her or clearing the way.

She is more evolved than most so called Swami’s, not because she refuses to take the title of Swami or Master but because she understands the depth of what such a title entails.

She is a simple lady, an inspiring teacher, a wife, a mother and a wonderful human being. Sensitive and firm, humorous yet profound she is of a breed that is fast becoming extinct. Down to earth, she is yet more spiritual than most of the self proclaimed spiritual masters.

What is spirituality anyway? Is it just knowledge of the scriptures, an ability to quote the Vedas, an extremely flexible body, a few magic tricks up one’s sleeve, being a good orator, a smooth talker, a powerful or talented person, one who is well read or one who heads a big organization? Most of us are drawn to these externals. Being articulate is definitely a useful skill for a teacher. But teaching is not through language alone.

To me Amma symbolizes the pleasant wind that touches me softly, shifts a thought pattern, moves a discordant note and gently cleanses me of that which is stagnant and moves me to stillness. She is not the hurricane whose power is apparent, which with its sheer force can blow away all that you need to get rid of. Instead the breeze is invisible. It will touch parts of you that you did not realize existed. Before you realize it you will be more in touch with yourself. But if you are not aware you will miss it. You will think that’s how you always were.

The change was smooth and steady but not dramatic. So it might seem like nothing much happened. We like sensational stuff!! So this is definitely not one for your dramatic weekend workshop transformation diaries. I definitely see how attitudes and patterns need only a moment to be changed. Yet the preparation for it was there before and it has to be sustained thereafter. Growth is not a one-time event but a process, yet we hanker for the magic portion to give us overnight success. We look at the goal and miss out on the joy in the journey.

The breeze is a reminder of this constant flow of energy. A constant mild happening that moves with grace. Its flow is directed by ones consciousness. It would have brought along with it the fragrance of love and yet warned you of the stench that you can sometimes encounter in yourself and others. When we observe ourselves we can see what we have chosen. Do we carry a fragrance as we move or are we carrying the element of discord? Do we bring out the best in ourselves, others and in situations. Do we spread harmony and goodwill ? The breeze unlike the tornado can be seen only through the eyes of sensitivity and will touch only the subtle. Slow and steady is an old adage. Action dominates the times. Not that action by itself is bad but it is action that is there as a distraction, a distraction from our “self”.

Now add to action, speed and you’ve got the new mantra for the millennium. Yet despite all this fuss about speed we don’t seem to find time.

We have no time for all the good things that life has to offer. No time to stop and listen to the waves and the music in the breeze. No time to see your little plant bloom, no time to bring a smile to a child’s face. No time for your own evolution. No time for living.

The overworked achiever is glorified these days. The workaholic, the one who spends more time and creates the impression that he is doing a lot gets the accolades. You might feel you are doing a lot when you are flustered, hard pressed for time and pushing yesterday’s work today. Is it possible that you take up only as much as we can? Can you find the balance between doing and letting go?

Every time you ride your car or motorbike in a tearing hurry to be somewhere, ask yourself, where is it you want to be? How much time are you really saving? Can starting merely five minutes earlier save you a lot of frazzled nerves? Would it make you feel less important if it looked like you were not doing much? Where is this speed taking you?

SUPERMAN AND HIS SAFFRON VAN

He had a big van that could accommodate all the little birds in his nest. He called them“eaglets” , as he wanted them to soar on their own. Their stay with him was a preparation for their flight. Everyone was taken care of and he drove them to where he thought was best for them. The little ones might have sometimes thought that he was going too fast or might have wanted a shorter ride, but that was not left to them. By calling them “little” I am not indicating their age, but their growth in the Yoga Life. They were part of a Gurukula [experiential educational space] and had to look at themselves as children who had a lot to learn, rather than grown ups who thought they knew everything.

Swami Gitananda chartered their course and decided the pace for them. He knew what they needed for their growth. His heart like his van accomodated all. He saw to it that everyone who came to him was taken at least a step up the evolutionary ladder, if not many. The way he did it, of course, was not entirely equal. Some had to have their shells cracked open, while others were just nudged. He was the hammer knocking down the hard egos and the sandpaper that smoothened out the roughness. One of his students in those days thought he might benefit better by going to Swami Gitananda’s Guru, Swami Kanakananda, also called “The Sleepless Saint”. Little did he know what was in store for him. He telegrammed Swamiji from Swami Kanakananda’s Ahsram in india : “Your Guru has ripped me apart”. Swamiji telegrammed back:“pick up the pieces you want to keep and put yourself back together again”. He wanted us to re-create ourselves all the time!

That was what Swamiji could do for someone’s ego. He was like a tornado that dismantled every wrong notion that one had. He blew away any belief that one was unwilling to let go of. He saw to it that one did not have the strength to hold on to old patterns. He took away the conviction with which one held on to ideas he/she mistook to be love for the Divine. In the process, if one tried to hold on to Swamiji, then he was shaken again. One of the lines of Swami Gitananda I read was, “when I am gone burn my Ashram and look after your own evolution”. I know that the Ashram still exists and provides a structure for all associated with it. Yet, I also realize that he did not want an organization to be built. He did not want his disciples to be stuck with his image. He wanted them to find their own path within the structure and spiritual laws. Despite asking his students to burn everything, he passed on to them all that was in him. How much they absorbed depended on them. He wanted them to burn their hang-ups and not what they had internalized. Swamiji’s energy still moves in the Ashram. By being in the Ashram I have had realisations and many spiritual experiences of my own. Those experiences become one’s own if the mind is open and there is an awareness that layers unfold within us every moment. He passed on to us everything, not just through language or the intellect, but also through osmosis. For that, one needs to have a semi-permeable membrane. If the shell is too hard, then nothing enters, or if it is too weak, then one lets negative vibrations from outside enter. By the strength and quality of Swamiji’s vibrations, he raised the quality of conciousness of those around him. His aim was not to gather disciples, but to have the eaglets become eagles and to get in touch with the Inner or |Universal Guru.

His love was of the highest order, as he wanted all his students to evolve to the Highest. He pointed to the stars and told them, “that’s where you have to go”. He gave them a vision and showed the path. I never knew swamiji, when he was in this body, yet I can feel his spirit in his teachings and sense his protective energy in the Ashram. I knew he would never let a soul lay a finger on his near and dear ones and would even take on their negative karmas if he could see them suffer less. At the same time he would not flinch if he had to teach them some hard lessons himself . His empathy was his greatest strength and his greatest pitfall. He recognised “empathy” as a quality that one had to transcend. It takes a lot of sensitivity, acceptance of oneself and a highly evolved consciousness to see that. His source of power was his acceptance of his vulnerability. The more he accepted it, the less he wanted to force growth on someone. His concern, love and empathy could make him overzealous in wanting the best for his students.But you cannot want the best for some if they don’t want it. From their level, what Swamiji wanted was not visible to them and this only drove them away. Yet, they knew they had grown. Despite their ego’s being broken, they had seen themselves become better and more skilled human beings. And yet they loved to hate him. There was a love – hate relationship with Swamiji as he was a mirror. He was a mirror that showed them their relaionship with themselves.

Swamiji created a reality for his students like the virtual reality on computers. He created havoc in their lives so that they would realize that if they continued being the way they were, this was what would happen in reality. If the student grew from the experience, it was as if part of his negative karma had gone. Like in the film MATRIX , the mind thinks it to be real, though it is simulated. Similarly, a Guru never made the student fill out a questionnaire and tick what he would do in a particular situation. Instead, he put him through the situation and observed him. If the student was unwilling to move ahead, then the experience had to be repeated. He gave his students some hard truths and experiences to grow and grow out of.

Swami Gitananda with his power could wash away the negative karma of many lifetimes. He gave the student the experience of self-knowledge. He made him understand that just like Swamiji did, life would also bring him to the edge, cause pain to soften him for growth, but never push him over the edge. Some accept their vulnerability while others hide from it and further harden their facades. This hardening makes us less sensitive to others and ourselves. The tornadoes in my life made me appreciate the breeze, as otherwise I would have neglected it. No doubt the hurricane makes you re-examine your life, yet the breeze is a constant reminder.Because we neglect constant gentle reminders we often have often to suffer a big hard tragic lesson that we can no longer escape.

Most of the time, we are dazzled by destruction. Not many are fascinated by the breeze, as they are by tornadoes or other destructive forces of nature. It is this need to see everything that BELONGS to one be destroyed. Deep inside we want to be stripped of all the externals. Yet, we are afraid to see our naked selves. This fascination for destruction is an unfulfilled need to see our egos destroyed and go back to oneness, but it gets distorted. Instead, we end up being self-destructive and destroy our bodies and mind through addictions and overdulgence. The human potential, if not channelised properly, will find other ways of statement. This suppressed force will grate on oneself and others and cannot lie dormant for long. Like a volcano it will throw up the energy, which will cause destruction. Swamiji recognized the need to channelise this inner potential, especially in children. To foster spirituality in the youth, thousands of village children were taught Yoga and Bharat Natyam freely by him. They were given free educational and medical help, food and clothing and a structure to grow in the Sri Kambliswamy Yoga and Cultural Arts for Youth Programme started by him in 1975.

His heart was accomodating, yet sometimes he needed to roar to get the message across. His ferocity earned him the name “The Lion of Pondicherry ” . His fierceness was only towards that which was holding one back from bringing out one’s highest potential. He reminded me more of Santa Claus in his later years. So what were Santa’s gifts or rewards? As one of Swamiji’s students, Dr.Jonn Mumford, who comes from Australia on occasion to teach Yantra at ICYER said,“The reward for well done is more work”. He loved to see people do their duties with joy and skill. Yoga would make a teacher a better teacher, a mother a better mother, a manager a better manager, a Hindu a better Hindu and a Christian or Muslim a better Christian or Muslim. The more one loves, the more one’s capacity to love increases. When one turns to violence, the more desensitized one becomes to violence. When one works with joy, the capacity to do more work increases.

Swamiji never shirked work. He studied in London and worked in London and Vancouver as a doctor before formally establishing the Ananda Ashram and the International Centre For Yoga Education and Research, Pondicherry . His years as a doctor helped him interpret Yoga from a medical and scientific point of view. He gave people the basics of healthy living, before the Great Truths that most were not ready for. People literally rot to death. He said that the stench emating from a body which was cut open would be that of rotting garbage when a person was operated on. People slowly die; their minds and bodies become garbage dumps. The crisis situations and the diseases are “a wake up call” alerting the person to action before they destroy themselves in years of neglect. When some people asked him if he could read their thoughts, he said that it would be like sifting through a pile of garbage and he would like to spare himself the ordeal!

He was not just a healer of bodies, but guided a soul through its journey on earth. He was a man of many talents. He could go on speaking forever! His Satsangas would some times go beyond 1 am and the students fell asleep (in Padma Asana, of course). He painted, was a gourmet and wrote many books. His wife and student Meenakshi Devi, (the spiritual speed machine you read about in my last article) would type out his articles for him. He would take all the classes starting from 5 am in the morning to you know when in the night, or rather past midnight . He had tapped into an endless resource of energy. Swamiji, in fact, had a lot of Siddhis or powers. He did not display it much, as people can easily go off on the wrong track. These psychic powers can also be obtained from lower entities and are not an indicator of one’s spiritual growth. Most of us want power and yet we are afraid of it. We are afraid we might misuse it and that is exactly what happens when we get it, as we want it for all the wrong reasons. Swamiji’s power was a result of his power over his lower or animal nature, rather than a bestial desire to dominate, or a desire to control others.

Like SUPERMAN he used his power for good. He helped his students OVERCOME the enemy or the bad guy. He gave them a space in which to see that the enemy was none other than themselves! It was their wrong notions and uncontrolled thoughts and desires that were creating havoc. He gave them the strength to fight their own battles and instilled in them the need to use their intellect and not react emotionally. When his students told swamiji that they wanted to renounce everything, he asked them whether they had a house, a PhD any achievements or people that loved and respected them. Most had none of those things. Swamiji then would say“first improve your minds so that you can go beyond it. If you are anyway dull and incapable of much, then what the hell do you have to renounce?” He used more of his brain than most men did. His mind was controlled by him rather than the other way around. The word “Man” comes from the Sanskrit word “Manas” which means “mind”(not the intellect) in Sanskrit. Swamiji is definitely of SUPERIOR MANAS or CONSCIOUSNESS. He had tapped into his full as a “man” being, of infinite love and power and not dictated by fear and survival urges. He was definitely of SUPER CONSCIOUSENESS or in short a “Superman”.

He kept his students busy so that they did not get into flights of fancy. The mind can play tricks and one could fool oneself into believing that he is “superman” or a great spiritual being. That’s why Swamiji taught his students to start with the body, as it was quite clear whether one could touch his toes or could not. There was no room for fooling oneself. He wanted his students to constantly work on themselves. He refined their bodies and emotions and sharpened their minds. He instilled in them the need for discipline. “If something needs to be done, go and do it now” , Swamiji would say. Nowadays, we have become convenient critics. We blame everybody, and everything for the state of affairs, but do not move to put in our bit to change it. We are by-standers in life. We watch it go by without making it our own. Most even confuse it for non-attachment. It is but a silly excuse for fearing failure or success. It is a lack of involvement. We take the easy way out by becoming complacent. Or, we keep on taking without giving in return, as though life is indebted to us. We do not put back anything into the earth, our country or into life.

This lack of involvement makes us fatalistic, “Oh, what can I do? It’s written on my head!. I am not responsible! Only God knows why my life is not moving ahead”. Now God Himself becomes a convenient scape-goat !. As if He asked you to eat the big bar of chocolate! Or asked you not to shift your job or pick up new skills! Or asked you to lose your cool over your coffee being too hot or not being hot enough. When the going is tough, we have to look at what we are meant to learn from it. How we can avoid a repeat. We need to see if our need for superficial excitement puts us through the roller coaster. Whether we can learn only from “the School of Hard Knocks” and not from the soft voice of the Guru. Whether we are influenced by externals alone. Whether we need a hammer to break our ignorance or can we listen to the whisper in the breeze?

The next time you need to get something done ASK if you need a hurricane to move from you from your lethargy or can you change before you churn up a storm? If you find insignificant things keeping you away from your priorities, ask if you are addict of highs and if you trade stability for the momentary thrills and last minute frenzies. When you don’t want to wake up in the morning to go for your walk or to do your practical Hatha Yoga Sadhana, do you want disease to give you the wake up call? Are you going to wait until your life crumbles before you re-examine your lifestyle and beliefs? Are you going to push things under the carpet until it blows up on your face? Are you going to dam the slush till you cannot hold it any further? Can you reform yourself smoothly before life jolts you awake? Important questions! Important decisions! The Guru helps us to give – as well as live – the right answers!

ME AND MY CAR ….IT’S ALL ABOUT ATTITUDES

Driving, when I started, was a daunting task. The brake, accelerator and the clutch were more legwork than I could deal with. Then, I had to coordinate my hands as well. The gears had to be changed in the midst of clinging on to the steering wheel. It took a while before I could practice non-attachment with my steering wheel. It did not matter that I stepped on the accelerator instead of the break or that I changed gears before I stepped hard on the clutch. The steering wheel was my hold on life. The huge buses and the lorries did not make it easier for me. The cyclists and bikes constantly cut across. Couldn’t these guys be less irritating? The brakes and the steering wheel were my two life saving devices. My legs, at every instance, reached for the brakes and my hands held on tight. I slowly learnt that there were other parts to the car and to driving. I did not have as many knee-jerk reactions with the break. There were not as many crisis situations as I had imagined and I eased my grip on the steering wheel.

I moved slowly from driving in the second gear to the third. Moving to the fourth was definitely an achievement. I had to come to terms with the fact that not everyone on the road was going to shout at me. Not that they did, but I was mortified of steering myself into what seemed like the gladiators ring. I had to not only avoid being hit, but also avoid banging onto anything. Each turn and road seemed different, though I had traveled by the very same car. The only difference was that, I was driving this time. I looked at each signpost more intently and all the landmarks suddenly seemed to materialize. I had not noticed them earlier. I looked at everything with a new awareness.

I had to keep an eye out for the potholes on the road, the traffic lights and the children who ran on some roads. All this was manageable when I was driving in the second gear. I learnt that I had to change gears, no matter how tempted I was to drive at one speed throughout. I understood not moving onto the next gear put unnecessary strain on the engine and consumed more fuel. I was hanging on to my pace, as I was comfortable with moving slowly. Yet, I had to see the damage it was doing to my system. When there was space to move ahead, I did not take the opportunity.

I was afraid of speed, as it seemed destructive. Yet, I felt inadequate for not being able to deal with it. I was in awe of those who could maneuver the skill that I had to develop. When would I be able to drive fast? When could I reverse straight? When I would not burst blood vessel when I drive, I thought to my self. The steering wheel gave many a sense of power. The thrills of speed are a thrill of the power they wield behind the wheel. It is like a gun in the hands of children. It was power without responsibility.
My conditioning was the reverse. I was somehow burdened with an excessive caution that made me take discredit for more than I should. I observed how I approached driving and saw that I’d rather place my life in someone else’s hands than my own. The auto guys were my regulars, though I had learned to drive. I never had problems with them though they were rash. The excuse, of course was that I did not want to deal with the stress of driving. Instead, I could escape by taking an auto or have someone else drive me.

I first had to acknowledge to myself that I wanted to drive. I had to stop feeling guilty about seeing the flaws in another’s driving. It was not condemnation, but an awareness of how things were. I had to be alert to not to pick up the very same things that were unhealthy. My energies were now focused on how to enjoy what I chose to do. Even, if I chose to just drive. When my focus was clear, things opened up.

First, I started driving a lot more. Every biker who swerved across was a test for my alertness. Every bus that brushed close was a reminder of my fears, and every guy who honked, helped me practice pratyahara (disassociate the mind from the senses). When I disassociated I could see the drama that was unfolding. Most times I would get caught up in it, but my lessons were in observing my reactions to the many teachers I had on the roads.

Every time someone cuts across, I learnt to replace my irritation with a smile. I gave myself brownie points for every so-called irritant that I managed to enjoy. Some must have even thought I was crazy, but who cares…. as long as I had a good time and let the other person have one too.

However, I soon learnt benign looks don’t always work. At 6.00 am one morning, a motorbike scraped my almost stationary car that I parked to pick up a friend. Despite my best natured look and intentions he started shouting. I was not going to let this one get away I told myself. Many times I had wondered whether shouting a lie from a rooftop made it seem like the truth to many.

LEADING FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT – AWAKENING…

Where does one go in the wilderness? In a concrete jungle, the latest spiritual workshop gets a herd following. I do appreciate guidance from those around, but a dependency on any is far from what I had in mind. Which one of these stores, oops! Workshops are going to help me find the way?

I was a spiritual window shopper. Not that I wanted anything in particular-didn’t even know what I was looking for. I attended a few workshops as they were recommended. I was already spiritual (in workshop sense). I knew I was connected to something bigger than my personality, but I was more concerned about my ground realities. How do I find balance in my relationships? How do I become emotionally expressive, or street smart? How do I deal with the manifest world? How do I relate to money and power? How do I bring higher concepts into my body and emotions, not suppress or fight them, but have them work in harmony. That was my spiritual quest.

My film making/advertising lifestyle was gnawing at me and I wanted OUT! I knew if I worked the way I did, I would not age gracefully, and end up with some money and a sour spirit. I had seen many in my family who were great achievers, extremely intelligent and well read, but who were emotional fools. I definitely did not want to head that way.

Oh God, where will I find a place that will train me and help me grow? Who is going to guide me without wanting to control my life/ who is going to help me deal with how to become a better and more skilled individual…. To help me work with my body, my emotions and mind? Who is going to help me unlearn a lot of the dysfunctional patterns I had picked up, make me get more assertive and help me have a deeper understanding of myself? Who is going to show me the way?

What I was looking for was a Guru without knowing it.

I had never thought of myself as spiritual. I rarely attended church or went to temples. No one but mom went to church anyway. So I did not feel too guilty about it. Whenever a wave of guilt was passed on from mom to me, I’d land up in church and later have some lighthearted fun about the boring sermons. Was not Jesus, whom I loved and trusted, supposed to save and deliver me? I asked his Mom to find me a place to learn. And she did! Mother Mary passed the message to me during a Reiki meet. George Kurian at the meet told me vaguely that there was some place in Pondy that teaches yoga and since I was looking for centers, I could also check this one out. I landed there, and that I had been guided was clear to me. Surrender saw me through. When the intention is strong then the way is automatically cleared.

My trainer at the ashram, Amma or Meenakshi Devi, called herself an acharya.. She explained the difference between a guru, acharya and a teacher. When we left the course we would be acharyas. A teacher teaches without the subject having any impact on one’s life. A teacher could teach physics or maths or aerobics and it was something they did for a living, maybe even loved, but nothing beyond. An acharya had to be much more than a teacher, Yoga had to be in one’s blood and bones. An acharya had to walk the path, not teach it like a subject, but live it. Hmm!! I decided then that I was going to go back to advertising. Teaching was not something I wanted to seriously take up. And yet, my desire for growth materialized in life, making me an acharya. Every time I teach, it is a re-enforcement for me, a reminder of my evolution.

Amma was there to guide us, without making us dependent on her. The teachings were provided to help us understand ourselves better and see the different stages in evolution and the quirks in human development. Aha!! So the emotions come from the animal brain, it was not just my problem but the problem of the whole human race. That felt a lot better already. The awareness inculcated the day-to-day observations, and the lifestyle got rid of a lot of what I did not need. Amma, at every step, warned us of the possible potholes to watch for, if in our enthusiasm we drove too fast. Yoga is balance. It is not competition or achievement oriented. The questions, doubts and the low moments that one went through, she warned us of, and I was able to observe my own fickle mind. Whatever we needed for our refinement and our growth, she provided us with. We of course had to utilize it. As one who was walking the path herself she told us of the detours, how sometimes it could be an up hill task-one step back and two steps forward. Yet we had to diligently row up the stream.

Amma was a spiritual mother who helped the child take his first few steps and stayed beside. Happy to have a few aware children, than a multitude of cattle, she guided us through the classes that were a framework for our lives. If we put in effort, we needed to learn to let go of it. Do our best and leave the rest. She provided many instances where we could understand ourselves and relate to others harmoniously. Amma in a lot of ways was a channel of the guru spirit. But she reserved the word for a very evolved soul. Nowadays, every new kid on the block is called a Guru. Right from management gurus to style gurus to the street-smart gurus, there seems to be an influx of them. The intensity of the word is not understood.

The word Guru means dispeller of darkness. By shining the light of self- knowledge, the guru helps us see those aspects that we are hiding from; recognize the universal potential within us.

Swami Geethananda is the guru in the paramparya (lineage) of Rishi Brigu. He was a channel for the supreme consciousness. If his students hung on to his personality, he trampled it. If the student was hung on the personality of the Buddha he ripped the Buddha apart in class; he definitely was not your popular candyfloss, all smiles Guru. He was not attached to his image. If the student still idolized him he’d burp and fart loudly in class. Gurus are supposed to be perfect; they should walk on air and look like they came straight out of a commercial. Or the guru should have “peace” painted on his face and make the student sing or chant all day in ecstasy. The student’s conception of the Guru was formed to fit into his world. The world he had created in his head had to be intact. If a guru threatened it then he was not a guru.

The guru spirit that manifested through Swami Geethananda helped break that which the student held on to; be it a belief or the ego. What came through him for that particular moment for that particular person was given. He was all that life needed him to be at that particular moment, especially, when his students need to grow. Each needed different treatment. Each according to their vasanas or conditioning needed to have some belief system shaken out of his/her head. If the student was tamasic (dull, inert) he had to break the Tamas, if they were Rajasic (restless) he trained them to become satvic (alert, still). He would shout at his students saying they had “spinal cord mentalities”. He did not even credit them with using their brains! If Einstein used only 6% of his brain how much are you using, he would ask. He wanted them to grow, and in a controlled environment, worked their karma out for them. By giving them knowledge of the true self he opened their minds. By allowing them to experience themselves he opened up the cosmos to them.

So does each one of us go looking for a guru? Even if there was an evolved Master, do we want to work on ourselves? Do we really want awareness, or are we attached to some silly fantasy of what awareness might be? When the student is ready, the teacher appears.

Swamiji never gave anyone sanyas (except one). To cultivate a harmonious family in a yogic way was to be the sadhana of all his students. He was a tough taskmaster and made it even more difficult by not having an organization. He wanted us to go out and create our own oasis. We had to create our own yogic space in the midst of bhoga (solely seeking sensory gratification). He was like the ferryman helping us cross over, guiding us to get in touch with our inner Guru. We have to help ourselves find the way.

A Guru is the vehicle that takes us closer to the divine. But he does become personal, and like with a father, an attachment is natural. But it is important to see that attachment. Not condemn all other fathers because they are not our own. Or form clans instead of embracing the universality of yoga.

Swamiji was a symbol for the guru spirit. He had purified himself and was a pipe or channel for whatever had to flow through. It might have been tinted with his personality but it did not originate there. All of us have a rigid conception and experience of the world and ourselves. Anything that threatens that image could never flow through. If we are non-confrontational, then, even if a situation requires it, we never address it, but push it under the carpet. If we are short tempered or insecure then we feel defensive, even if the other person did not mean to put us down. Yet we want to improve the quality of our lives. That’s why we have internal conflicts that manifest as external conflicts.

The people in our lives serve as a vehicle for the Guru spirit. Each of them reflects parts of us. Which part, has to be figured out. Life is constantly giving us messages about ourselves. Are we attentive and alert? Do we find ourselves in the same situations again and again? Do we find the same people triggering the same reactions? Do we allow the will of the divine to manifest through us? Do we notice our blocks? Do we listen and are we present to what is happening? Are we aware of the Guru Spirit that flows through life? Or are we sleeping, too busy when our guru is knocking at our hearts.

I offer my gratitude to Swami Geethananda and Guru Patni Meenakshi Devi for raising the consciousness of many including myself. Pranams to Dr.Usui and all the ascended master for guiding me. My love to Christ and Mother Mary for giving me such a blessed life.

Time For Gnyana

Yogic Awareness:

When we procrastinate,tension builds up. As the deadline nears, the rush of adrenaline propels us to act. Energy is lost if decisions are delayed and the conflict and worrying saps one of prana or life force. Any good manager is also a good decision maker, who keeps in mind not only his own well-being, but also that of his team.

The Technique:

Sit comfortably with spine straight on the ground in padmasana or on the chair. Let the tips of the index and thumb touch each other forming a nice circle. The other three fingers are together,straight and stretched out. Place the hands on the thighs with the palms facing upwards. Focus on the area between your eyebrows.

If you find yourself unable to focus or agitated, then do the simple cleansing breath that we saw last fortnight. Then you can practice the gnyana mudra for 3-5 minutes. Intend that whatever decisions you take will be in accordance with natural laws.

Yogic Concept:

The index finger signifies the ego. It is the finger that points,separates, threatens and indexes. The ego is a necessary step in evolution where we experience our individuality as well as separation and one must consciously transcend it to find oneness.

The thumb stands for universal consciousness. In the gnyana mudra , we are uniting the ego finger with the fire of consciousness. This gesture with our hands sends a signal to our sub conscience to behave in accordance with the natural/universal laws. The other three fingers signify the senses, which are disciplined by the intellect.

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

What would I have been happy doing for a living? Am I meant to become a doctor, a researcher, an artist, educationalist, engineer, manager, or a writer? As a child I wanted to become almost everything from an Ayurveda doctor to singer, to a fairy. The mind wants to become all that it is attracted to. Then one learns to walk a road steadily. Choices are made and progress happens when one is willing to have vision of where one wants to be. Consistency is the key. When one is walking a road then the human mind has a tendency to wonder what might have been. Would life be better if my profession and personal choices were different? It is good to introspect. It is good to want to direct the course of one’s life and it is good to want to better oneself. But one can get too caught up with the flow, yet, not become a drifter.

Fickleness can mask itself as wanting to move ahead. Inconsistency can mask itself as boredom. One can flit from one thing to another without having the courage to go deeper. One can constantly feel unfulfilled when what has to be changed is not the situation but the attitude. Sometimes one might need to retrace ones steps. Take a fresh look and re-charter one’s own course. With time and more awareness, we might have to redefine our visions and goals. We might have to make choices about profession and lifestyle. We might have to see what our barter is. Are we giving away our lives for a few extra bucks or for the goal we crave.

We have to see if our goals are in alignment with our highest potential and the spiritual laws. (spiritual laws do not mean laws that pertain to spirits but, the simple karmic law of “as you sow so you reap”-that helps us live a full and harmonious life on planet earth). Then we may have to shift out paths and rework our lives within the framework of what ever we are doing. Every time we look at what we have done and what we are capable of, we have a chance to better ourselves.

That is what Yoga is about. It is a path that wise and questioning souls have walked. It is a path that has already been cleared, so those moving towards the same goal can see. It is a path of the individual towards universality. It is not just a professional path. It is a path moving towards one’s essential nature. Sometimes the ego might want to cut through the jungle, just to feel that it has created it’s own NEW WAY. And ultimately, after all the toil and drama, the destination is still the same and the straight paths are parallel.

All mystics speak of the same truths. One can find one’s own different path if one is willing to walk in circles for a while. Even in a structured path there are many steps that we take that are our own. The structure is there, so that we don’t go way out. Some take detours and are like children who like to get lost and scare themselves while playing. We can laugh at our games of hide and seek.

In India, there are Satdarshans, or the six revelations or, views of reality, of which, Yoga is a legitimate path of Self Discovery. The path is not just the techniques, but the awareness and consciousness with which one leads one’s life. The more consciously one walks the path; the more aware he is if detours take place. India has produced many enlightened souls, as the path was there for many to see. Each enlightened soul did not start his own cult. In the west, we have a couple of new institutionalized paths and they seem like trendsetters. New religions are created after them. The west fails to understand that no path can be patented. The world religion comes from the Latin root religere, which means to bind. Yoga also comes from the root word Yuj, which means to yoke or to bind. We are yoking or binding the individual consciousness to the supreme or universal consciousness. From limitation, we become unlimited.

Yoga is the journey and the goal. It is a path that one walks if one wants to realize ones full potential, be in touch with oneself, move from fear to trust, become more skilled and more aware, if one wants to live life fully and relish every moment. Yoga is not a hobby, religion, cult or profession. It is a path to move beyond our patterns, be it emotional or mental. As Swami Gitananda taught, it is a path of conscious evolution. I am extremely happy and grateful to be walking the Yoga path. It is a blessing to be a student of Yoga. Yoga has the capacity to satiate my desire to be what ever I want to be. But, are we not supposed to be desire less? That’s the last rung on the ladder up to moksha (freedom for identification). A state that I can imagine yet not experience. I do not want to suppress my desires but sublimate them. I do not want to fool myself into wanting less out of lethargy. I need to know I am capable of actualizing my desires. I want to let go of them as they no longer hold me and not because of defeatism. My desires have definitely become more and more refined and more and more real. I remember as a child, I wanted to save and clean up the world. Now, I am content saving myself. When one is happy, healthy and balanced, it infiltrates ones relationships and one’s surroundings, unhealthy dependencies are avoided and fewer are played.

Yoga fulfills my need to be the many things I want to be. It helps me be a scientist where there experiment is I, the personality. I keep observing how I react in different laboratory conditions. In effect, the observer and the observed are i. The lab is the world and different people and situations variants. That’s quite an experiment. Now, if I don’t watch myself dispassionately, I have the tendency to influence the outcome of the experiment. The Heisenberg principle states the result of the experiment is influenced by the intention and expectation of the experimenter. That’s a law of modern physics.

The Rishis had discovered this law more than 10,000 years ago-they were the researchers of that age. They researched the human body, the breath and the emotions, the mind and its different faculties, the gr4eat cosmic energy and the interconnectedness of all of them. They knew that their consciousness affected them and everything around them. They lived in harmony with nature and applied their minds to create a life and environment that seemed beyond the natural. Yoga develops the artist in me. I can sculpt myself the way I want to be. Yoga helps smooth-en out the edges. Once I decide I want to mold myself, the divine sends me his bandwagon to help me. He is the greatest artist of all and I aspire to be like the great creator of beauty.

We also see horror and grossness. with free will, one creates ones reality. I am responsible for the beauty and the ugliness I see within me. Again what I see ugly can be just a matter of perception. Now, let us apply the Heisenberg principle. When my intention is “I am ugly”, then according to the thought, and to the intensity of the thought, I make myself ugly. So change the thought and you can change the outcome. That’s brilliant isn’t it?

Now I get to be an artist and a scientist at the same time. Yoga develops the manager in me. It helps me manage myself with all my idiosyncrasies. As Swami Gitanana said, “Yoga is the Right Usenet of everything”. This includes our body, emotions, thoughts, time and external resources. We need to learn to make optimum and responsible use of all that there is. We start with our body optimizing the energy in the system and directing it with our intellect to work towards a vision. We learn to be the CEO of our own energy system and manage and direct our resources efficiently. We learn to become leaders by motivating our body and emotions to do what our intellect knows is healthy and not force them. We build a healthy team of body, emotions, mind and intellect and make them work in harmony. We deal with conflict resolution and disaster management just by managing ourselves effectively. Yoga helps us to look at ourselves as a project-a project of self-improvement rather than give excuses or condemn ourselves.

My film making skills are also honed by yoga. My life is like interactive TV. I am constantly writing and rewriting my life’s script. Some scripts don’t work and others do. The more in tune I am with my power and consciousness, the more I materialize what I think about. Sometimes, I just sit back and see the great soap operas that unfold in my life and around me and I know it is all His Leela or play. Our lives surpass the dramas on television and are infinitely more engrossing. We can see the roles we play and know we have the capacity to move beyond our roles.

Whatever roles we play, teacher, father, manager, Christian, musician, or saint, Yoga will make us better at it. With yoga we address our being. We move closer to who we are, rather that what we posses. We develop a deep respect for ourselves as an individual and as a manifestation of the divine-not because of our acquisitions, be ti material, intellectual or spiritual. Yes, there are a lot of spiritual acquisitions also that one can start identifying with – like titles, visions or powers to heal and manifest objects. They can also be a pitfall, as one stops identifying with professional and emotional roles and, starts identifying with the spiritual roles one plays. Yoga helps one work on one’s being and that is reflected onto everything one does and all the roles one plays. The roles are a vehicle to fulfill ones learning on planet earth. Roles are necessary and are an expression of ones being. The stage is set, and we can decide how well we want to play our roles. Each role is crucial to the scrip. When we play our roles with joy and awareness, we realize that no role is too small or too big. No profession better than the other.

Each of us is not just a part of the whole but a reflection of the whole.

THE WOMAN ENTREPRENEUR

As women we are born with a great responsibility to nurture our femininity. In today’s world we are polarized towards an extremely aggressive masculine energy. When this energy is in balance it is manifested as assertiveness. A woman has to create this balance, honoring her femininity. The roles of both the sexes are not well defined nowadays as it is an age of freedom. With freedom comes choice. We have to equip ourselves with the awareness to make right choices. We must not be fooled and imitate the models that are passed on to us by default, or because they are more prevalent.

Organic growth

As a woman entrepreneur you can choose to either push your company up at all costs, or allow it to grow organically. Nowadays nobody has the patience to wait for growth. Genes are altered, growth rates speed up and the external appearance of vegetables and fruits made more attractive. Yet when I ate one of those ‘leaps in science’ they did not have half the life or taste of an externally imperfect looking vegetable from the ashram garden. The quest for perfection gets translated as a preoccupation with external trappings.

An organic garden is in tune with Mother Nature. It is nurtured by nature and the love and devotion, which the farmer puts into it. There is a season and a cycle for preparing the soil, planting, sprouting, a time of pestilence, more effort and endeavor, more growth and harvest.

Change Management in the Organic growth context

The farmer has to aid the plant in its growth by providing it with the optimum conditions. Similarly the women entrepreneur should nurture her plant and allow growth to happen. She should be willing to learn and be observant of the changes that are taking place. She should be willing to wait. She should realize that if she gets stressed and unnecessarily perturbed it will affect her baby. Like a plant or a child the company will reflect the qualities of the nurturer.

Managing Corporate Identity

The company will reflect and imbibe the ideology of the CEO. “What do I want my child to reflect?”, is an important question that all women entrepreneurs have to ask themselves. In terms of work culture, would you like your company to be laid back or aggressive? Would you like it to be a customer-oriented/market driven entity or one which follows the fancies of its managers? Would you want your corporate image to earned by constantly staying ahead of the competition, or would you have it sullied by complacence in the work force? Whatever your ideal is, that is clearly reflected in your company’s image. The company ideology is reflected in the work culture, the attitude of the co-creators (employees) of the company and the revenue the company generates. You will go through the pains of birthing and a lot of emotional energy will be invested in creating.

Detachment, Delegation and Decisions

It is but natural to get attached to this child. But you must learn the art of being involved yet detached so that you can take objective decisions. This will help you delegate rather than doing everything on your own. When attached, the nurturer will stop at every moment to check growth, stifling the other and stressing oneself out. The company must be treated as an individual and given its space to grow. Despite putting into the company all you have, there will be a disparity between thought and how it materializes. That is a risk you must be willing to take.

Sometimes you will have to take the tough decision of letting go what you have brought up. At those times see if you are closing off a healthy company out of fear of change. Yet there are times when it is better to let a plant die or give it away to one with better resources rather than dig twenty bore wells to find no water. It is important to acknowledge and accept the loss and have a closure. Then prepare for the next season and see that the same mistakes are not repeated. Life is a series of ups and downs and we need to make peace with it. In us we have to find the anchor of balance.

In harmony with your Corporate Vision

Like a stream that smooths out a stone into a pebble we must flow consistently to sculpt our dreams. The smoothness of the pebble is not of the hammer but of the flow of love, sincerity and joy. With a childlike playfulness the rambling stream transforms all in its path. Similarly flow with grace and gentleness in tune with the natural rhythms and growth is inevitable. Yet it might seem too away from the regular model of hammering and stress. There will be many to convince you that you need to barter your life for an entity. Your work is an extension of your life, so create a life of ease and not of constant struggle. It may start off as a struggle as we have our patterns that believe in hardship or those that thrive on last minute jump-starts. With time if the intention is clear you will see things moving ahead with a beautiful momentum. So envision where you want to be and start with a strong foundation. Put your thoughts out into the universe and it will definitely respond in its time.

ITS ALL ABOUT WINNING

“Winning is everything.” This statement is enough to register an increase in the pulse rate of many. No one wants to be left behind. All of us want to scurry along in the race. When the mind feels the urgency the body prepares itself to compete in the concrete jungle of finding food or escaping from become prey to another animal. Winners are the ones who walk away with the best and the most. The winner gets the best jobs, the biggest market share, the best reviews, the best accolades and the Adrenalin rush. If you are not a winner your heart stops singing and your life is a series of torturous climbs to reach that coveted summit. To have the best one definitely has to aspire to be a winner. But there is a fine distinction between being our best, being the best and having the best. We loose the present to the dream of having the throne. Nerves are frayed or we escape into our webs of fantasy.

Winning is about being in competition with ourselves all the time. When one aspires to better himself he is not in an unhealthy competition with others, he rather uses their competence as a yardstick and an awareness device. We are all winners in our own ways. Every day when we wake up with a smile we have won over our laziness and defeatism. Every time we stop procrastinating we have won over our fear of failure. Every time we move we have won over inertia and every time we are still we have won over restlessness. We are changing each moment and every time we direct the course of that change we have won over fatalism. Each time we let go, trust and surrender we have won over worry. Each time we hold two seemingly opposing thoughts in balance we have won over extremism. Every time we smile at a stranger we have won over fear of being misunderstood. Each time we breathe more deeply we have won over holding in the unwanted. Every time we rejoice in life we have won over ingratitude. Every time we love ourselves with our imperfections we have won over discontent. Every time we choose to sit up straight we have won over conditioning. Every time we make lifestyle changes for the better we have won over resistance to change. Every time we are willing to be reborn we have won over decay.

Redefining winning as a process and not as an end result or destination alone, will help each one of us be winners. A winning attitude is a frame of mind that nurtures us moment to moment. It is an attitude of being grounded in reality. It is an attitude that tunes into infinity. It is an attitude that reflects our connection to others and ourselves. It is an attitude of discipline, joy and freedom. With such an attitude at each moment and day we win.