The confidence to share Hindu culture at the office + samosa

This is a fantastic story and motivation for us...
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Namaste all,

Hope you are well and enjoying the festive season.

I wanted to share with you a recent experience with my work colleagues, who asked me why I wasn't off work for Eid?!  For those who know me well you can guess my reaction to this.  Anyway, through this conversation I realised how very little they know about our religion, most of them live in predominantly 'white' areas of Yorkshire and for many I'm probably their only Hindu friend.

Clarity of Thought

One of the biggest weaknesses of my SIP project, has been that I have lacked clarity in my ideas and thoughts.

I have come to realise, through SIP, that when embarking on any task, my thought processes need to be absolutely clear. They need to be so clear that I can effortlessly explain them to another person. Ideally the end result of the task/ final product, should also be clear in my mind, however the most important thing is that there is a clear path.

When the clarity is there, the focus is there. When the focus is there, then the commitment can be strengthened and the process of achieving a goal can be more efficient.

However how can our thoughts be made clearer?

The answer, as with some of my other blog posts, lies in meditation. Stillness of the mind, deep interrogation and introspection. It requires an understanding of the motivation behind the task, a clear definition of the goal, and a method/ process of achieving that goal.

As I have mentioned, my biggest weakness has been my clarity of thought. However, as the SIP process as progressed I believed that my clarity of thought has improved, which has enabled me to work more efficiently. This has occurred through my daily practise of meditation, planning, and contact with other karyakartas and the members of the SIP team to guide me along the way.


"Through meditation and by giving full attention to one thing at a time, we can learn to direct attention where we choose." Eknath Easwaran

Team GB vs the World

It hit me at the Olympic stadium on Friday 10^th August 2012, whilst watching all the other countries alongside Great Britain compete against each other in the running events and Men’s Pole Vault that there is always another view to things that we miss. The whole atmosphere was beyond amazing to experience, sitting between German and Kenyan supporters you’d think we would have become competitive spectators, but the first second into the evening, a feeling of togetherness came through.

Different Shakha's, Different Experience's.

Part of the many tasks we have to carry out for SIP- there was one in particular which stood out to me: "Visit a different shakha every week." This allowed me to see how other shakhas run and what they do differently or similar to Meerabai shakha (Wembley). So what was so interesting you may ask?

Apathy

Apathy: absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement.

At Sangh Shiksha Varg this year, one of our bauddhiks was on "Challenges of the Hindu Samaj." The bauddhik was very interesting and very well delivered. We covered a variety of issues of the Hindu Samaj and tried to ascertain whether the issue is a local one, a national one or a global one.

We discussed issues such as conversion, divisions (within the samaj), "media bashing", political exclusion, modernisation and many more. We also proposed that another challenge is apathy. However apathy is not just a challenge itself, but it also the root cause for all of these other challenges still existing.

Apathy is an issue for the whole samaj, however it has it's roots at an individual level. This led me to wonder how apathetic I am. It is worth noting that apathy is not simply absence of emotion but it is also suppression of emotion. In my own case, I have found myself unintentionally being apathetic, when my actual intention was to remain calm. There is a fine line between calmness and apathy, and I going forward to make sure that I can remain calm, but be assertive, thereby being less apathetic.

However, to try and be less apathetic requires a change in mindset and attitude. This can only be brought about by reflection and by giving time to yourself to introspect and by committing yourself to this change. Being less apathetic requires action and being pro active. It requires commitment and emotion. It requires introspection and meditation.   

"It is necessary for the worker to sit in solitude daily in the mornings and night and probe his mind. With a discerning intellect he must find out whether any unworthy thought had entered his mind. If so, he should resolve to throw them out, and become purer from the next day. He should detach his mind from unholy associations and make it immersed in thoughts concerning the chosen mission of his life. It is possible that he succumbs to the same failings on the next day also. But he need not despair. He should continue the daily self-searching and assertion of his holy resolve. He will, in course of time, find that his mind has become less prone to evil propensities and more attuned to the noble impulses."

Param Poojaniya Guruji on the power of meditation.

Reflection

As part of my project, I am interviewing certain karyakartas across UK about individual experiences that have inspired them and can inspire others in future. I have set up a template of questions to ask and decided to answer them myself...

Egotism vs Self Respect- An Example of P.P. Doctorji

The difference between egotism and self respect is a fine one. Often we don't understand which of these our behaviour and thoughts fall under.

The Oxford English dictionary gives two very similar definitions for ego and self respect.
Ego: a person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance.
Self-respect: pride and confidence in oneself; a feeling that one is behaving with honour and dignity.

The two definitions are very similar and this left me wondering; where is that line in the sand the separates egotism from self respect?


I came across an interesting way of separating them on a blog (http://virajgupta.blogspot.co.uk/2008/05/ego-versus-self-respect.html) which describes the difference as such:
"You need others to satisfy your ego, which is not the case with self respect. You can be a person of high self respect without forming a coterie around you."

Viraj states that egotism relies entirely on external factors which are not in our control whereas self respect is much more an internal affair which only us as individuals can determine.

Another definition I came across was that egotism is an inflated sense of pride in ones superiority over others whereas self-respect is the quality of being worthy of esteem.

Another way of thinking about this could be that egotism is an inflated sense of self-respect which is used to exact superiority over others.

I began thinking about this whilst reading Poojaniya Doctorji's biography entitled,"Dr Hedgewar The Epoch-Maker".
In Doctorji's early childhood the author narrates a section of Doctorji's life where young Keshav Hedgewar's parents died whilst Keshav was only 13. Keshav was forced to complete all of the household duties in addition to his school work. His eldest brother, Mahadev Shastri, began to live an indisciplined and loose life. After a while his other brother, Seetaram Panth, left the household to go to Indore to pursue Vedic studies, and Keshav was left to provide for the household. Often he would go without food for days on end. However he would not accept food from his friends even when his hunger became extreme. The author of the biography describes this as self-respect.

Is this Doctorji having self-respect or is this egotism? This is where the line is very fine between self-respect and egotism. How do we define Keshav's actions, after all it takes a lot of strength to accept food from others.


Personally, I believe that this shows a tremendous amount of self-respect. I don't believe that this shows egotism as the quality Keshav shows in this example involves external factors but does not rely up on external factors, and does not rely upon him exerting any superiority upon others.


There is much to learn from this example of Doctorji, and it got me thinking. Have there been times when I have been egotistical whilst confusing it with self-respect? Honestly, there have been many times, however reading Doctorji's biography got me thinking about this, and the first step towards removing egotistical characteristics is defining the fine line between ego and self-respect and the secondly introspection.


Introspection is key in improving one's character and in order to introspect I believe there is a need to meditate and free ourselves from the "outside world" even for a short period of time. As part of SIP we are required to do a minimum of 10 minutes of meditation in the morning and evening, and although at the start I was a bit apprehensive about the need to meditate, now I believe that it is the most important part of the day and will be a practice that I shall carry on through SIP and beyond SIP as well. 

“Meditation brings wisdom; lack of mediation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what hold you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.”

Gautama Buddha

What do you want to be remembered as?

The standard practices of life is to go through the education system, find a job, settle down and have a family then eventually grow old. In between all of this is it possible to achieve anything memorable?



Being told to write my own eulogy* made me think about this further- even getting told to write my eulogy felt somewhat strange. Who thinks about writing their own eulogy? Many thoughts ran through my mind. What do I write? What will I have achieved in life? Actually, what have I already achieved in life?

My speech delivered to the audience at SSV Samarop, Lutterworth to share my experience of SSV and SIP!

Imagine being dropped off in a car park in a strange city with £20 and a list of tasks to be completed within three hours. Sounds like the apprentice? Similar, but with a heart. The tasks for example, speaking to a homeless person, making a positive impact in the local market… but it wasn’t about completing all the tasks in the time, but more performing them to the fullest and learning from them. Sangh Internship to me is a whole new platform to think, analyse and reflect upon my thoughts in Sangh, education and society. As well as personal development, I chose to continue with the theme of Sangh archive. Within the Sangh Parivar, there are so many inspirational people that have so much to share with us. Based on this I have chosen to log these experiences for it to then be shared amongst us all. For example, I had the opportunity to interview Susheelaben Gohil our Sarva Adhikari of Samiti Shiksha Varg about her meeting Vandaneeya Mausiji founder of Samiti. The interview was so inspirational that we both left in tears.

Part of the 7 week programme was to attend SSV, for me this meant re-energising myself within Samiti. This year I was pushed outside my comfort zone. For example, I was asked to sing the Pratahsmaran everyday for the first time. At the beginning I was hesitant however, by the 3^rd day through practice, determination and guidance I nailed it.

Shareeram Aadyam Khalu Dharmasaadhanam. We talk about developing the mind, body, intellect and soul and in this years SSV I was able to practice the development of all three.

Through this week of endless activities the most inspiring part I felt was the reflections of the day at the shikshika baithaks and anubhav kathan with pravesh varsh. I felt that all the shikshikas together came away from their busy schedule and could share what they found challenging and what specifically worked in their individual sessions. Anubhav kathan with Pravesh Varsh really let me understand how the shiksharthinis’ thoughts can develop so much within one week giving a really positive insight on SSV. A particular activity keeps coming back to my mind when I look back at this week… Charchaa which are discussion based sessions. Praveen charchaa- Is it possible to have traditional values and still be modern? There was a deep discussion on respect towards our teachers. It was so interesting to hear the different opinions from the sevikas of what respecting their teachers means to them. By the end of the session the sevikas had a goal that they would achieve to develop these values further in their lives, whether it be individually or community based. It just goes to show that everyone has a different interpretation of things and the actions they carry out have different meanings to everyone. It made me think how so many different minds managed to live together for a whole week…

It has been a very rewarding week for me, and I look forward to continue my SIP work for the remaining weeks.

‘Feel for all, Work for a great cause. Give the maximum, Reach the highest, Be the one.’- Bhagavad Gita.

Mind over matter.

Will Ben be found guilty in Eastenders tonight? That curry at Krishna’s was delicious- I must remember to get that recipe! Must remember to buy a present for Sheena’s birthday. I need to pack for Belgium by Tuesday.

At any one time there are many thoughts invading our minds. Is it possible to keep a clear mind- a mind where thoughts do not simply seep in and out when they feel? A mind where you are in control?

Tum Chalo To Hindustan Chale...

Service. Sacrifice. Sewa. Shraddha. Sadhana.

All words that we seem to mention every week in our shakhas. But do we truly understand what they mean? Do we understand what it means to be a swayamsevak? Do we understand what sewa is?

We may think that being a swayamsevak means to simply turn up to shakha regularly every week, where ganvesh when appropriate, and that being a swayamsevak simply exists in the boundaries of a shakha.

This reminds me of a recording of a bauddhik I heard by Mananiya Saumitraji Gokhale entitled “Ideals of a Swayamsevak.” In this he mentions that P.P. Doctorji was someone who changed the meaning of “swayamsevak”. A swayamsevak is not merely someone who volunteers but someone who is willing to do whatever it takes for the sake of society. A swayamsevak will do whatever it takes for the sake of society but without thought of himself. .

At SIP abhyaas varg 1 had a session about sewa, sadhana, sacrifice and we began the session by watching a short 2 minute video. The video was entitled “Tum Chalo To Hindustan Chale.” 

The video can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0M0EZ8T5J8

As can be seen there is a lot of distress and impatience being shown. No one is willing to try and move the tree, but instead they think of there own interests and simply jump over the tree to the other side. It takes a small child to decide that he is going to do something about it. I'm sure the child didn't think that he could move the tree by himself, but he still put the effort in. He inspired others to do what he couldn't. He empowered others. His actions were selfless and show the true meaning of sewa and show how we as swayamsevaks should think.

We may not be able to do everything and complete every task to perfection, but we should wholeheartedly attempt whatever is to be done and always put 100% effort in. We may not be able to complete the task however we may empower someone else to do so. In this way, as swayamsevaks, our aim is not only to develop ourselves as swayamsevaks and karyakartas but is also to develop others so that they can carry the Sangh karya forward even further than we can. We can do this by setting an example, by putting the effort in ourselves and by trying to develop ourselves into the “ideal swayamsevak”. Being an ideal swayamsevak should not only exist within the boundaries of our shakhas but we should aim to be the ideal swayamsevak throughout our entire lives.

In the lives of Poojaniya Doctorji and Gandhiji and many others, we can see that one person through the course of his actions and thoughts can inspire many to go further than him.

“Tum Chalo To Hindustan Chale” can, through our thoughts and actions, be brought to fruition.

The Real Test!

We always talk about personal development and how to improve oneself, but how many of us actually abide to what we say? Well the answer is hardly any of us, which is probably why we always go back talking about improving ourselves, because really, if you think about it, we don’t change. We just accept we are how we are.

“Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.”
―Elizabeth Gilbert.

This quote reminded me of a story we read and discussed at the first Abhyaas Varg. I’d say fictional story as it seemed so surreal and well… pretty fictional, but then actually, we can all relate to it. The so-called ‘perfect’ world was similar to ours. We know the wrong meaning of happiness. Our happiness is only temporary.

‘The ones who walk away from the Omelas’ describes a perfect non-materialistic town where the whole population is ‘happy’… everyone apart from a small child suffering. If this child wasn’t suffering, the rest of the town would not be able to be ‘happy’. The test the people had to face was to either accept this compromise, ignore the poor state the child was in and carry on living this ‘happy’ life or to take a stand, walk away from the situation and do something better than just accepting this ‘happy’ life.

In the same way, participating in SIP so far has got me thinking that this is the real test. We will always have personal constraints, whether it is family and social commitments or concentration on studies. However, SIP has opened up an opportunity to actually stand up and improve with the power to actually do so.

So the real test has begun, from the project I want to succeed in obviously to our individual daily and weekly targets. Will I actually be able to do something to change? Or will I fail and just go back to accepting how we all are and not do something about it? Let’s See!

SIP Jam :: 5 | Transforming (y)ourselves

22.05.2012 | 21.00 GMT | Skype | 3

We shared our thoughts on the following 3 statements...

i. Personal transformation is...

ii. Social change is...

iii. Personal transformation is a precursor to Social change.

SIP Jam :: 4 | Unity in Diversity - Looking for the One

24.04.2012 | 21.00 GMT | Skype | 7


This session was particularly challenging as participants were asked to go deep into the quotes through the process of questions. The process of the SIP Jam 5 was to read the quotes and select one that called out to them. Participants were then asked to identify a sentence from their selected quote and create a question from what was said in that sentence. They were then asked to find an answer from the question. They went on to answer the question they asked themselves another 2 times and watch how their understanding of the question and answer transformed.

The conversation then moved on to understand how going deeper through the process of inquiry can enable us to deepen our understanding our own purpose and the purpose of our work.

Quotations

All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man does not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web he does to himself... All things are connected.
(Attributed to Chief Seattle of the Duwamish Tribe)

To obtain spirituality is to realise that the whole universe is one symphony; in this every individual is one note, and his happiness lies in becoming perfectly attuned to the harmony of the universe.
(Hazrat Inayat Khan, Sufi writer and musician)

Everything you see has its roots in an unseen world. The forms may change, yet the essence remains the same. Every wondrous sight will vanish, every sweet word will fade. But do not be disheartened, the Source they come from is eternal - growing, branching out, giving new life and new joy.
(Rumi, A Garden Beyond Paradise)

A human being is a part of the whole that we call the universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. The illusion is a prison for us, restricting us to our personal closeness and affection for only the few people nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living beings and all of nature.
(Albert Einstein)

He who sees himself in all beings and all beings in himself knows no sorrow.
(Isha Upanishad)

SIP Jam 3 :: Unity in Diversity

26.03.2012 | 21.00 GMT | Skype | 0

There were no participants for SIP Jam 3

SIP Jam 2 :: Nature; within & around

29.02.2012 | 21.00 GMT | Skype | 9

:: Summary of the call

At the end of the health awareness month, SIP Jam 2 sought to enable participants to reflect on their relationship with nature, within & around.

The photos that participants submitted along with their caption on “how connected are you to the natural environment in your daily life?” are available online

Participants started by talking about their photo, the context and the reason behind which they took the photo.

The questions that were then openly discussed were

1. How does the nature around you influence you?
2. How do you influence the nature?
3. How does nature help you understand yourself?

SIP Jam :: 24.01.2012 | 21.00 GMT | Skype | 10

:: Summary of the call

21.00 :: Participants join. Asked to read a short narrative from J.Krishnamurti, Commentaries on Living - 2nd series

It was a calm evening, but many white sails were on the lake. In the far distance a snow-covered peak hung as though suspended from the skies. The evening breeze from the north-east was not yet blowing, but there were ripples on the water towards the north and more boats were putting out. The water was very blue and the skies were very clear. It was a wide lake, but on sunny days the towns could be seen on the other side. In this little bay, secluded and forgotten, it was very peaceful; there were no tourists, and the steamboat that went round the lake never came here. Nearby was a village of fishermen; and as the weather promised to be clear, there would be small boats, with lanterns, fishing late into the night. In the enchantment of evening they were preparing their nets and their boats. The valleys were in deep shadow, but the mountains still held the sun.