Mindfulness

The core of our being is to be happy. Our conscious and subconscious efforts are always towards being content. Yet none around us is truly happy or content. Why? Because the notion of happiness has always been associated with attaining something, materialistic or non-materialistic. Nobody realizes that the continuous quest for happiness is what keeps them from being happy! Ironic right? People don't seem to realize that sometimes the awareness of not being in any quest of life is what causes happiness. The craving of water for a thirsty man, is what makes him restless and dissatisfied with what he already has. Attachment or desire of water is what makes him oblivious to the lows of life. 

Things which men, to judge by their actions, deem the highest good are Riches, Fame or Sensual pleasure. Of these the last is followed by satiety and repentance, the other two are never satiated; the more we have, the more we want; while the love of fame compels us to order our lives by the opinions of others. But if a thing is not loved, no quarrels will arise concerning it, no sadness will be felt if it perishes, no envy if another has it, in short no disturbances of the mind. All these spring from the love of that which passes away. But the love of a thing eternal and infinite fills the mind wholly with joy, and is unmingled with sadness. Therefore it is greatly to be desired, and to be sought with all our strength.—Spinoza

We have the innate drive to find our likes, to find what makes us elated with joy, failing to see that this attachment will lead us nowhere. 

No fetters exist for him who neither likes nor dislikes.From attachment arises grief; from attachment arises fear.There is no grief for one who is free from attachment.Whence, then, can there come fear? (Verses 211-12)

We are curious beings. When life confronts us with complex problems, we plunge in anxiety to discover their solutions, in a quest to attain peace of mind and contentment of having solved the problem. The constant struggle begins in some material direction, but then we realize no amount of money, no amount of wealth or riches can give us the true inner peace that we desire. That can only be gained through altruism, through inhibiting the thoughts that inculcate pessimism and through controlling our minds. Mind science has always been an area of interest for many, the reason as can easily be judged is the attainment of peace. 
Many a times, material questions make us feel lost or have us doubt our conscience, then we must realize that time has the power to bend our knees and have us bow our heads, it can have us begging for mercy, but we should have the courage to fight back with whatever comes our way. Attachment to the result or the material essence of the happiness gained from the attainment of the result causes our defeat. Struggle towards the result without any greediness in mind gives us success. 

karmanyevaadhikaaraste maa phaleshu kadaachana |maa karmaphalaheturbhuu maatesangotsvakarmani ||A person has the right towards action alone and not towards the fruit of action. Let not the fruit of action be the motive for acting. Also, Let there not be any attachment to inaction.

Only unattached goals can be acquired, greediness of the goal will create a fear of not attaining it, hence making it unattainable. Of all the evils of human mind, fear is the most dangerous and the most destructive. And fear arises from attachment .  I have been studying about the human mind and consciousness for a while now. What I have gained from my research is astonishing! Through mindfulness , we can achieve contentment in any condition whatsoever!Why do people travel? Why do people play cricket or football? Why do people swim or read novels? It's all mindfulness !! Isn't the concept simply marvelous?! It's the key to all the mysteries of the mind ! 
Let us have a closer look at the concept. Mindfulness was originally a Buddhist religious practice, which gained popularity gradually all over the world. The teachings of mindfulness  conceptualized moment by moment awareness of our being, of our existence and of our minds. Studies were done on Buddhist monks in the laboratory of neuroscience . The major area of research here was brain plasticity, that is the ability of the brain to mold itself constructively depending on our emotions, circumstances or behavior. It is also called neuroplasticity and has triggered massive experiments recently. 
The true achievement of man is to achieve mental discipline, the ability to mold our mind the way we want. And mental discipline is attained through meditation, through self-consciousness and through mindfulness. So basically it's all in our heads!! Isn't it fascinating?! :D

An interesting find

So , I am just casually browsing some blogs when I suddenly stumble upon the following link. Now , this is something really interesting !! I read somewhere " Good fiction doesn't just happen , it is designed " . Little did I know , that this was meant literally !

Without further ado , let me show you the blueprints of some of the most famous best-seller fictions you'd know .
Work behind fiction
Well, this is plainly the most expected way of producing the best fiction-work of all time , but getting to see a proof of it is a little over-whelming for a petty aspirant writer like me :)

Indian economy -- en route to the dream

This article was written as a starter post for a friend's non-profit organisation . 

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As India sailed through the ebbs and flows of Indian economy, some sectors saw a serendipitous boom while others died down. The consequences of them all, have reflected on to the lifestyles and attributes of a common man in India, ever since independence. The quest of survival of a petty commodity in the Indian market, ended because unlike before, "quality" no longer remained a myth in India.

After being chained up for over two centuries by the British monopoly, India finally found its own laissez faire government in 1950. The main focus, then, was to increase trading relations with other established and flourishing civilizations and redeem India's pride. Later, many other policies and reforms took shape and form, and new sectors were born, for instance IT sector market increased exponentially and machine work took the back seat. Nonetheless, still less labour force was required for significantly difficult jobs. In 1991, India heralded the liberalization process and hasn't looked back since then. 

According to the Wiki statistics, India stands as the 10th largest in the world when it comes to nominal GDP and 4th in case of purchasing parity. Also, India is bestowed with one of the best growth rates globally. Still we have a long way to go, per capita income is far too low. According to a 2012 World Bank estimate, 37% of the total Indian population falls below the international poverty line of US $1.5 a day. Many rural areas remain devoid of education facilities. 

Dr. Manmohan Singh voiced his concern about improving the infrastructure of our economy looking at the aftermath that we could face otherwise, after the G20 summit last year . This could dampen trade with European countries and adversely affect our envious growth rate. 

Now I am reminded of this very famous quote by Gordon Gekko from the movie Wall Street --”The richest one percent of this country owns half our country's wealth. One third of that comes from hard work, two thirds comes from inheritance, interest on interest accumulating to widows and idiot sons. Now you're not naive enough to think we're living in a democracy, are you buddy? It's the free market. And you're a part of it. You've got that killer instinct. Stick around. " 

India always was and still remains en route to be the greatest economy of the world, but we still have enormous work to do, to fulfil this endeavour . Seemingly, we could surpass the limitations and reach the desired economical zenith, as M.K.Gandhi had once dreamt, in a decade or two , if we continue to identify and renovate the flaws in our system.

PS : Incidentally , today happens to be 2nd Oct , acknowledged as the birth day of the legend mentioned above . 

Ciao . 

Dawn Of Realisation

A peacefully rocking cradle as it may seem , life is more of a never-ending roller-coaster ride . Back in May 2011 , when the world had suddenly shown its brighter side to me ,thanks to the JEE results , I had a similar misconception . Things grew clearer as the clock ticked. Somewhere in our subconsious ,all of us are aware of the fact that in one's dark times , even their own shadow wouldnt follow them . But when things take real shape and form , realities look grim. We are initially shocked at the fact that our identities are determined by some seemingly arbitrary grading system or the same monstrous being in any other form known to homo sapiens. But later when the mysterious cloud parts away , and we grow aware of the ingenious approaches of mankind towards life , we are left with no other choice than to follow the herd. 

Quite unfortunately , India seems to be the hub of such misconceptions . We Indians , the youth to be specific , are the worst sufferers . Amidst  the hullabaloo of competition and defeat , we often overlook what we actually wish to perceive . Our actual pursuit of Happiness . 

I, however , on personal grounds , feel that there's always a niche in everyone's life that they long to accomplish ( ^^having experienced it personally) . Their childhood dream , yet  unaccomplished. For instance , ever since I was an 8th grader , there has been this fictional character, I have been longing to pen down . It has been all the way , in my mind , in my passwords ;-)   , everywhere .  But , probably lack of exclusive writing experience , sort of pulled me back ,  and then came JEE , which made me scrap the idea out of my mind in one go. Nonetheless, I still had patience to preserve it for near future. Yet , things didnt quite go the way I wished they would and the idea still remains on clouds , waiting to be penned down. 

 The bottom line remains the same . Most of us follow the wind , and reach where the crowded path leads , which means most of us are adept at pretty much the same stuff , which is quite unlikely , says the probabilistic logic .

Its a funny thing about life , that if you refuse to accept anything but the best , you very often get it ;-) (best meaning the most apt here ) . Afterall , as Dumbledore says ,"It is our choices...that show us what we truly are, far more than our abilities".

I dont believe in taking right decisions , I take decisions and then make them right .