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.