This short article is about something I observed , only recently.
When we find ourselves in troubled waters we often pray to God that O'Lord almighty please fix my problem.If someone lost a lot money in stocks , its only fair to ask God for some special favor , like Oh God ! somehow just create an opportunity so that I get some quick money . Or to be even more reasonable , Oh God ! Make my money lender ill . Just for this month . Then I would find a way to give him some EMIs ! . I think its all fair to ask such unusual favors from God . Because its only him who can do such things and if its not him that we can ask for such favors then who else !!
But asking for help is one thing and getting it is something else . Lets just think that what is God suppose to do . Yes , thats right what is "God suppose to do" . I mean he has certaing rules which probably even he doesnt want to break. So to say there is a method of living that he advocates and we should see if whatever we ask or do , fits in that method.
What is this method ?
So here is something that I noticed recently ::
In Hindu Mythology , in Mahabharat when the war is almost set to start , Lord Krishna gives Arjun the wisdom of life.I am no scholar but from what I have heard , the crisp summary of this wisdom is - Nishkam Karma . Meaning doing your job without worrying of the outcomes.
But what I noticed is that Lord Krishna , probably , has given this message even before delivering it through Gita.This is how ::
Before the war is to be started , the 2 princes from each side came to visit Krishna - Duryodhan ( the guy on the wrong side ) and Arjun ( the mighty warrior from the right side ).
They came to ask for help.Krishna declared even before they could ask anything , that he himself will not fight - so much so that he pledged not to pick a weapon during the whole war.
Realising this Duryodhan asked for his army to be on his side - which was granted.
Arjun asked from Krishna , the lord supreme , that Oh God , I just want you to be on my side . Thats all . To which Krishna said , fine I will be your chariot driver.
Now here is a message ( I guess ) .
Arjun , resembles "The man" . Krishna , ofcourse is the God . Whats being taught here is that :
1/ The man shouldnt ask nothing more than truth from God . That he be guided on the right path by lord almighty.
2/ God himself declines to do anything by "himself" . He says , Arjun its you who will have to pick up the weapon and fight . You will do everything . Meaning Karma . My role at maximum can be only to hold your horses.Horses here would signify the wild run of human mind.
Even before Gita was delivered , somewhere through this story the message was there that one should only ask for guidance , but be prepared to do everything by himself and not expect God to do it for you .
I guess thats where the saying comes from "God helps those who help themselves"
I will wrap this one with beautiful lines from the man of the century , Swami Vivekananda ::
When I Asked God for Strength
He Gave Me Difficult Situations to Face
When I Asked God for Brain & Brown
He Gave Me Puzzles in Life to Solve
When I Asked God for Happiness
He Showed Me Some Unhappy People
When I Asked God for Wealth
He Showed Me How to Work Hard
When I Asked God for Favors
He Showed Me Opportunities to Work Hard
When I Asked God for Peace
He Showed Me How to Help Others
God Gave Me Nothing I Wanted
He Gave Me Everything I Needed
- Swami Vivekananda
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
A backup - Safe play or spoil play ?
More often in life than not we come across situations where we have to take risks . Now , before we talk further lets define what is risk . To put it simply , risk is an act where there is possible danger of an outcome which would be undesirable , often to the extent of doing harm to the doer.
Risk can mean different to different people . It depends on what kind of person we are and what kind of setup we have in life .
I primarily see it defined by two gauges ::
1/ Personality of the doer
2/ Circumstances of the doer
I feel its more for the first reason than the second that something might count as a risk to someone , while it might not to someone else. This is because after all , its our personality that defines us the kind of situation we are in.
Some of the people who are laid off , take the situation as a depressing act and just sit on the whole thing , sulking . While some others actually see it as an opportunity to do something of their own / go for higher study / take vacation etc .
Finding yourself in troubled waters and dealing with it is one thing , but actually doing something on purpose for bigger benefits and putting existing "safe" setup on line is something different.
When we do such things , the one thought that flashes through our mind is "what if it doesn't work as planned" . The obvious answer is "lets have some back up".
We do this every day . With every other thing . With every other setup .
Students give exams , not just one but many . Even those which they wont like to join if given a chance . The idea is to have a back up . Parents educate children to take both Maths and Biology - just in case if he has to try in both medical and engineering ! When people are in relationships , they want a back up in some form . They wont want to lose all the ends and hold one . Its to say - don't put all eggs in one basket . When someone wants to start his own company / setup - the one thing that comes as hurdle is that he would want his current job to continue as well . Obviously that's not simultaneously possible.
What we do and what we choose , is driven by our own personalities .
But its worthwhile to stop and ponder , if actually keeping a backup is good or is it a road to failure.
When one person creates a "backup" , he has to let go of some "energy" into his backup . Thus diluting the "effort" in the "act of risk" .
How often we hear religious scholars say that one must leave everything behind if he/she were to do soul search / god search . Not sure if that's true or not , but at least what they are trying to advocate is that one has to put his / her whole 100% into the effort . There are no two ways about it.
In relationships , lets say someone has a love relationship going on with someone and soon he / she finds himself inclined to someone else also . Now , one must choose between the two if he/she were to even give himself/herself a "chance" to succeed with either of the two . If one chooses to have a "backup" or a contingency plan , chances are high that none shall work out. To say , one should not be sailing in two boats.
This fear of failure , often leads us to have these back ups , which in some way or the other dilute the whole effort of ones act . Sometimes the margins are so tight that even slightest of dilution is sufficient enough to make the whole thing fail. Ironically , after the failure , we only reestablish to ourselves that it was good that we had backup because "see now its failed" , failing to understand that it failed because of the very backup , probably .
Not that having backup is bad all the time , but one should be cautious when choosing to have a backup . That is because one might be setting up the stage for failure in doing so .
How many of the great achievers we see were actually created by circumstances that left them with no back ups . There was only one way they could go and there own genius took them to such heights . Pushed to the corner they had no option but to fight it out relentlessly - in just one direction. If they had a "safe option" and they chose it then they wont be there where they are.
The other achievers are those who had the option but they just didn't take it.
True love , true success , true "moksha" - cannot be achieved without a 100% effort. Creating a backup will dilute the effort - sufficiently enough to make the effort fail.
Risk can mean different to different people . It depends on what kind of person we are and what kind of setup we have in life .
I primarily see it defined by two gauges ::
1/ Personality of the doer
2/ Circumstances of the doer
I feel its more for the first reason than the second that something might count as a risk to someone , while it might not to someone else. This is because after all , its our personality that defines us the kind of situation we are in.
Some of the people who are laid off , take the situation as a depressing act and just sit on the whole thing , sulking . While some others actually see it as an opportunity to do something of their own / go for higher study / take vacation etc .
Finding yourself in troubled waters and dealing with it is one thing , but actually doing something on purpose for bigger benefits and putting existing "safe" setup on line is something different.
When we do such things , the one thought that flashes through our mind is "what if it doesn't work as planned" . The obvious answer is "lets have some back up".
We do this every day . With every other thing . With every other setup .
Students give exams , not just one but many . Even those which they wont like to join if given a chance . The idea is to have a back up . Parents educate children to take both Maths and Biology - just in case if he has to try in both medical and engineering ! When people are in relationships , they want a back up in some form . They wont want to lose all the ends and hold one . Its to say - don't put all eggs in one basket . When someone wants to start his own company / setup - the one thing that comes as hurdle is that he would want his current job to continue as well . Obviously that's not simultaneously possible.
What we do and what we choose , is driven by our own personalities .
But its worthwhile to stop and ponder , if actually keeping a backup is good or is it a road to failure.
When one person creates a "backup" , he has to let go of some "energy" into his backup . Thus diluting the "effort" in the "act of risk" .
How often we hear religious scholars say that one must leave everything behind if he/she were to do soul search / god search . Not sure if that's true or not , but at least what they are trying to advocate is that one has to put his / her whole 100% into the effort . There are no two ways about it.
In relationships , lets say someone has a love relationship going on with someone and soon he / she finds himself inclined to someone else also . Now , one must choose between the two if he/she were to even give himself/herself a "chance" to succeed with either of the two . If one chooses to have a "backup" or a contingency plan , chances are high that none shall work out. To say , one should not be sailing in two boats.
This fear of failure , often leads us to have these back ups , which in some way or the other dilute the whole effort of ones act . Sometimes the margins are so tight that even slightest of dilution is sufficient enough to make the whole thing fail. Ironically , after the failure , we only reestablish to ourselves that it was good that we had backup because "see now its failed" , failing to understand that it failed because of the very backup , probably .
Not that having backup is bad all the time , but one should be cautious when choosing to have a backup . That is because one might be setting up the stage for failure in doing so .
How many of the great achievers we see were actually created by circumstances that left them with no back ups . There was only one way they could go and there own genius took them to such heights . Pushed to the corner they had no option but to fight it out relentlessly - in just one direction. If they had a "safe option" and they chose it then they wont be there where they are.
The other achievers are those who had the option but they just didn't take it.
True love , true success , true "moksha" - cannot be achieved without a 100% effort. Creating a backup will dilute the effort - sufficiently enough to make the effort fail.
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