Adverse to advantage

Sridhar was expecting a promotion that year. When the results came, he was shocked to know that he was not chosen for the position as he expected. He felt bad that his hard work was not recognized. It was a great set back in his career. He took this as a challenge, resigned his job and started his own company. Due to his bold decision, trust in his own strength and the cooperation of the employees, his company grew much bigger than his competitors in five years time. In another two years, Sridhar purchased the company where he was working previously and dominated the market in his domain. Like Sridhar most of us have come across situations which we thought as adverse turned to be advantageous.

As individuals we are limited and cannot understand all that happen around us. But anything that happens has a meaning and purpose. There is nothing called accident. When we do not know the cause, we call it an accident.  When it rains during a lawn party, the host thinks it is bad but for a farmer expecting rain, it is a blessing. Rain itself is not bad. When it rains without our expectation, we consider it as bad. So adverse or advantage depends on how we perceive a given situation. It is the difference between what we expected and what we got. It does not mean that we are helpless. Every one of us has a great potential to convert an adverse situation to advantage. How?

There are two ways to approach this problem of adverse situation. First you should use your free will, look at things objectively and put your efforts unceasingly to convert any given situation to your advantage. As human beings, we are blessed with free will and have the capacity to convert negative into positive. You should develop an attitude to be calm in difficult situations and think of alternate solutions. An agitated mind magnifies difficulties. Believe in yourself and the great weapon with you-‘free will’. Think of Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. They all have excelled in adverse conditions. Prisons have produced some of the best writers. Successful people did not have best of everything, they made best of everything. In fact it is an interesting game to convert negative to positive. You just need to look at things differently and work towards your goal with focus. It is just like the story of two sales guys who were asked to sell shoes in an island where people never wore shoes. The first one said it is hopeless and returned back. The second one was jubilant and ordered for thousand pairs. He saw the opportunity of so many people wanting shoes. I have a friend who became the CEO of a leading company from the position of an ordinary employee. He chose to go to Japan when all others refused to go there fearing communication problems as they did not know the language. This guy saw the opportunity, went there, learnt the language and climbed up the ladder. What did he do differently? He saw the opportunity in a situation where all others saw difficulties and he worked hard in the right direction. Looking at things objectively, using free will with determination and cool mind gives you the advantage.

 Now let us see how the second approach works. There are some situations where you don’t find an immediate solution. When you find no working alternative, undergo the difficult situation patiently as a learning period and improve yourself. Keep an eye for the right time to take advantage. In creation there is no positive without negative. If you have a body, you will have pleasure and pain. Anything that comes must go. No human being is exempted from suffering. With patience, what appeared to be adverse becomes normal and then advantageous. Most of us think difficult situations are bad. We blame our horoscope and planets for our suffering. In fact difficult situations teach us lot things which we would have never learnt in normal situations. We understand the world better in difficult times. We will come to know who our true friends are. We will also know our real strength. This is the real learning period. Who will find time to learn the lessons of living if everything goes well? Whenever a difficult situation is given, think it is given by God for your learning. Accept it and undergo the situation with courage. Look at nature. There are four seasons. Which season is better than the other? The cool breeze of autumn relieves you from the scorching sun of summer. The warmth of spring relieves you from the freezing cold of winter. In summer you love playing out door and in winter you have fun in snow. All seasons are interesting as they keep changing. Life will be meaningless and boring without challenges. Look at your own past. Every situation you thought as difficult had passed. Now they don’t bother you.  You may realize most of such situations were in fact opportunities not adverse situations. Periodical review of your own life in the past is a great way to understand your potential and take advantage of what is available in present.

 Change what you can, accept what you cannot. Pray the Lord to give you the strength to do the right thing at right time. All situations are to your advantage when you have the courage to face them.

-Arasu Ramanujam

In a word-Business

It was a regular busy morning in our Tokyo office . The secretary said there was a customer waiting to see me. I was little surprised as I had no appointment with a customer at that time. In Japan it is rare that someone coming to see you without an appointment. I thought it must be something important. With all kinds of guess work I went to the meeting room. What a surprise! It was the senior Vice President of a global giant in Electronics, one of our most important customers. He was with his General Manager, a kind lady always helpful to us. I could sense the seriousness in spite of the customary smile on their faces. After exchange of greetings the VP gave me a gift and apologized. I could not understand the situation. Later I came to know that whenever some damage is done to you, the Japanese express their regret by offering you a gift. He said,"Unfortunately the project has to be stopped in middle due to some problems on our side. Your team has done an excellent job. We are very thankful to you and your team for this. We are sure to come back with some solution later and engage your team again.”It was difficult to digest this information as this was a major project involving several hundred engineers. But my respect to the customer for his courteous behavior dominated my own thoughts about lost revenue.

One year later the same customer called me and surprised me by giving a huge project much bigger in size. “Why he did this?”, I asked my colleagues. They all said in chorus,"trust”. Yes, trust is the magic word in business. This word can do wonders. There were also other customers who helped us even when we goofed up at some points due to our ignorance. They know we can be trusted and we will never let them down. Whether it is trade, marketing, buying or selling, with trust even blunders are excused. There is no business running smooth and profitable all the time. There are ups and down. The seller, buyer and service provider all must trust each other in business. All other qualities put together cannot make you successful if you are not trusted.

You can never pretend to be trust worthy. It is self evident. However we can see some pointers here on how trust is built based on experience.

·    Be honest first to yourself and then to others. Do not try to defend your side when there is a fault. Telling the fact is invariably better than bending the truth to justify your act.

·    Never be late to a meeting. Nobody can trust a person who cannot keep his own commitment to time. You may give thousand reasons for being late. But trust and so your business is already lost.

·    Empathize with your partner. Even great companies have difficult times. Size does not matter. Elephants slip. Be with your partner in difficult times. In better times, he will come to you.

·    In business, sweet words don’t always mean business. Be firm on your principles, if you believe it will help your partner. Flexibility does not mean accepting everything.

·    Think of the benefit of your customer, you will in turn be trusted and benefitted.

·    Be consistent. Even a broken clock can show right timing twice a day. All your figures should be consistent and supported by facts. Consistent growth is better than great show and down fall.

·    Build a relationship sincerely and steadily. Tough start, growing sweeter and stronger is always better than sweet start and bitter end.

·    While in discussion with your customer, explain your shortcomings as well as your strengths. Remember the customer has heard the statement, “I am the best” from all prospects before you met him. Openness leads to trust.

·    Say always “I can do only this and only I can do this.” Nobody will trust you when you try to do everything.

·    Do not just say all bad things about your competitor. Be honest in appreciating the good points as well. Explain how you are unique and why you are even better.

New business models, management techniques, quality improvements, information updates are all in the superstructure. They all need a foundation called trust. Everything else can change in business but not trust. Where trust is- there is business. 

-Arasu Ramanujam 

Ten steps for stress-free living

1. Control your mind

The cause of stress is your mind, not the external world. You have the switch to control your thoughts. You can turn it on or off. The first step towards stress-free living is not to let the mind take control of you. You are not the mind but you have a mind to work for you. Use it as you would a pair of glasses to see the world.

2. Accept the universal law

Accept the universal law as you may not understand everything that happens around you. You have control over your action but not on the result. Once you have performed the action, accept the result as the result is subject to universal law.

3. Plan your time

Time pressure is an important factor for stress. Think before committing your time. Your time is in your control. The President of a country and a gardener has the same 24 hours with them in a day. How you spend your time makes the difference. Allocate time for admiring nature, physical exercise and family.

4. Face the unacceptable

 Change what you can and accept what you cannot change. Pray whenever you face a difficult situation. Prayer gives you the strength to face the unacceptable and accept it. Listen to contrary views. Learn from opponents as they may have better ideas.

5. Don’t procrastinate

 Procrastination is a major cause of burden. Take up most difficult work first and complete it. Rest will be easy. Delegate work to deserving people around you; don’t try to do everything by yourself.

6. Live in harmony

 Living in harmony is human nature. Understand the needs of the people around you and help them. Just a smiling face and a hello will do wonders. You can melt even stones by your kindness and care.

7. Enjoy your role

Remember that you are always playing a role as father, son, manager, customer, consumer etc. Just play the role and enjoy the role. You have no stress when you know that you are different from the role.

8. Act, don’t react

 Act as per the demand of situation, do not react. Anger is a sign of weakness. It reflects the incapacity of the mind to face difficult situations. When anger and irritation grows into hatred, mind cannot relax. You can be stern in dealing with a situation but should not develop hatred. A strong mind withstands displeasure and discomfort.

9. Meditate

 Meditate by allotting time for yourself and bring your mind under your control. Think of the vast sky and stars, your problems will just vanish. Whenever any incident makes you unpleasant, imagine that it happened many years ago and at a faraway place. Time and distance have strong impact on my mind. Remember everything passes; anything that came must also go.

10. Sleep

 No one has ever complained of stress while sleeping. Sleep does the magic and you feel it when you are awake after a sound sleep. Make it a habit to sleep in time and rise early in the morning to have stress- free day, every day.

-Arasu Ramanujam

In search of home

Sitaram thought, “It is enough, let’s get back to our own country and live a simple life.” He has seen the height of corporate world and spent a long time in advanced countries in various positions. He likes simplicity, although his work environment has all the luxuries in the world. He wanted his decision to be final and there would be no looking back. So he informed his colleagues and the Board of his decision and packed off to his motherland.

He was so excited about being back in his Country. Memories of his childhood, school, university and relatives kept his mind occupied during the flight. After many years of busy life, he could relax and the flash back of his own life was so exciting. He wanted to experience the life of a common man in the city where he lived before leaving the country.

First day….

Sitaram was so excited to go for a walk, go to his favorite hotel, temple and so on. In the morning, he set out for a walk. He was shocked to see that the road had no pavement. He had forgotten how to walk on the road in such a chaotic traffic, four wheelers and two wheelers were moving in all directions. In the name of widening the road, the corporation did not leave any space for pedestrians. Even if there was a narrow pavement, it was all occupied by petty shops and vendors or used as parking lot. Forty years ago he was playing on this street with other children of his age. Now it has become a busy road and not an inch of space left to walk. Somehow he managed to get an auto and went to the play ground where he used to go for a jog. When he went there, the security asked him, “What do you want sir?” Sitaram realized that the place looked different. He asked the security,” This used to be a play ground earlier. Can I go for a walk?” The security said,” No Sir, you have to be a member to use this facility. Even for walking you have to subscribe as a member.”

“Oh God, Is this my country? There is no place to walk on road. There is no public place left anywhere for a common man. Where will I go now to just take a walk?” thought Sitaram.

Second day…..

By now he understood that the best transport in the city is the bus. It is cheaper and safer than any other mode of transport. (If you go by car, there is no way you can return without a dent! If you take an auto you end up arguing with the auto driver) Sitaram wanted to make a donation to the school where he studied and so went there. When he reached there, he found heavy security arrangements at the gate of the school. No stranger was allowed to enter the school. Everybody was checked by special security personnel. Sitaram asked the man at the gate about what was happening. He came to know that a child was kidnapped in the area just the previous day and hence the panic. Sitaram thought it is better to return home than to enter the school at this time. Who would believe if he says that he came here to donate money?

Third day……

This was the temple he used to go to every morning. On Fridays his mother would give him flowers and coconuts to offer to the deities in the temple. With nostalgic feelings he approached the temple. When he went near the temple, he found a lot of police men there. The traffic was diverted and no vehicles were allowed to go near the temple. He got down and enquired the police on guard about the situation. He came to know that some VIP was visiting the temple and hence public were not allowed to enter until that evening. Sitaram saw the tall tower of the temple in front. His memory went to the days when he used to go round the ‘praharam’ (corridor) of the temple with his mother and sit there in peace for a few minutes.

“Oh Lord, where this world is heading?” thought Sitaram. He has just decided to get away from the materialistic life and returned to his country. Now he is shocked about the city life in his own country. Where will he go to live the life of a normal peaceful man just like the olden days?

He could not stop thinking about today’s world……..

·         No man trusts the other. No one can enter any building without an ID card. The ID card around your neck is more important than you.

·         If you go back to a company where you worked a few years ago as a visitor, you will be interrogated as if you are an unwanted person there.

·          Travel in plane is becoming a hazard. Your bag and you are subjected to strict security check. No matter even if you are an honest, reliable, respectable person; who cares? You are an object of suspicion.

·         Every apartment has security guard (whether he can provide security is a different matter!). There is also a board which says, “Visitor’s cars not allowed”.

·         Law makers are law breakers. Even judges who are considered next to God are found corrupt. Every day there is news about scam, terror, cheating, kidnapping…………

·         Indiscriminate industrialization with profit as the only goal is a threat to the globe itself. The green earth is turning into a dump yard. Every next generation is left with more pollution and garbage to tackle with.

We can go on talking about the mistrust, suspicion, disrespect prevalent in human society today. There is a big transformation taking place in human behavior with advent of technological developments. It is amazing to see the speed at which the world is changing. On one side we feel we are progressing with scientific advancement in all fields. We have so many gadgets replacing human labor. The internet, mobile phone and television have changed man to virtual world. Even the language is changing every day. We are not sure whether we will be able to even communicate with the next generation. On the other side human dignity, mutual respect and fundamental values are also being redefined. A self conscious man may feel that he is getting farther away from universal consciousness. Such a man may feel buried deeper and deeper in the gadgets designed by man. Man today is a prey to his own web. Man is changing in trying to change nature. Every child born will see a new kind of world with many new materials made by man. Will there be some time left to see and think about the other man, river, mountain and sky?

 There is hope………

Sitaram finally decided to go to his native village. It was a great surprise to him there. He found his street the same. Children were playing as it used to be forty years ago. He went to the temple which remained the same without the crowd and VIPs. Thank God, it did not become so popular to attract VIP visitors. He could go there and sit for hours as he did in his childhood. He could get in to any house for a cup of tea. He could find women chatting in the afternoon leisurely before their children and husbands got back home. There was trust, love and compassion with people. Even unknown people talked to him as if he is one of their family members. The pond in the village had beautiful lily flowers as it used to be. He could find cows, goats and pets coexisting with human beings. Sitaram was happy. He could finally get to a place where a simple peaceful life of a man is possible.

 Still in this world a few villages are left where people like Sitaram could find a simple life of a ‘man’ that he saw forty years ago. How long will this fast developing society allow these villages to live in peace and leave the world green? Long live the green world!

In a word- Management

If you know a person well, you can describe that person in just one word. One should have analyzed a person or phenomenon in depth to be able to define in just one word. When you think of Mahatma Gandhi, it is ‘ahimsa’(non violence) that comes to mind. When you say fire, light is associated with that. In creation, space and air cannot be seen. In the order of evolution, fire is the first element that is visible to the eye. Even though fire can be seen, felt and heard its specific quality is form. Each person has many qualities, but one quality distinguishes a person from others. If we know this, we know this person well. Similarly, management, business, education - everything should have one quality that is very specific to that function.

What is very specific to management? If you have this one quality, all other qualifications will come in handy. What is expected of a manager?  The management wants the manager to achieve the set target without fail. The employees want the manager to guide and support them. The customer wants the manager to deliver his product in time with good quality. What helps the manager to fulfill all these expectations and makes him successful? One word does it -“Foresight”

Every manager has knowledge, qualification and experience but only a few are successful. What do successful managers do differently? They foresee problems and avoid them. Experience in the field of operation and knowledge about the product, management, employee and customer can result in success only when combined with foresight. We have seen bridges falling before inauguration, defects in equipment and deaths due to defective automobiles, not to mention the serious consequences of software. No one is going to accept such failures. No doubt the managers involved in these projects will be taken to task.

A successful manager sees what others cannot see. This is possible only when he is conscious of the consequences and think of the results of each step in the process carefully. When he has seen the problem, he cannot sleep over it. He has to take immediate steps to avert serious consequences. What does a mother do when a child is born? She takes care of the baby to perfection without anybody asking her to do so. She is not thinking of anybody above her to answer if she fails. Why? She cannot fail. It is her child. She is careful all the time. How a successful manager cultivates foresight?

·         Manages himself first

·         Makes it a practice to predict and checks its validity

·         Learns from the mistakes of others

·         Observes and digs out hidden facts

·         Acts confidently

·         Keeps improving

A manager with foresight accomplishes the following by his virtues:

·         Takes care

·         Sets expectations right

·         Leaves no gap

·         Never slips

·         Exceeds expectation

·         On time every time

·         Delights all

Is there anything more to ask for? If you have foresight, you can manage.

-Arasu Ramanujam

No problem

The Japanese customer was worried seeing the traffic on the way from Delhi Airport to the development center. He was tensed. He wanted to be in time for a video conferencing with Tokyo. I had asked the driver to take a different route if possible to reach in time. The driver said, ‘‘No problem sir”. Hearing this, the customer looked at me and smiled. We arrived at the center just in time and hurried to the meeting room and started the video conference. When the customer was talking to his boss in Tokyo, something went wrong with the system and we were disconnected. The technician came to set right the issue. The customer was anxious to get connected to his boss again.   We asked the technician to hurry up. He said, “No problem sir.”The customer smiled again  despite the tense situation. The technician fixed the problem and we got reconnected. During the discussions, the customer came to know that the progress was not as per schedule and worried about a possible delay in deliverables. The project manager said, “No problem sir, we can deliver it on time.” The customer again looked at me and smiled. This customer is a close friend of mine and knows India well. He has a dictionary of words used in India with special meaning. To him, when someone says,” no problem” it means,”take it easy, there will be problems but we can deal with them.” Not all customers can bear with this and still smile. This customer works with India, China and a few other countries and has learnt to deal with all of them.

Later in the evening in a relaxed mood at dinner table he asked me, “Do you have any idea why people say, “No problem” spontaneously even though they know well that there is a problem?" I thought for a while and asked him,"Do you remember the project manager we met today?” He looked at me and said,"I remember him well. Last year when we were in a discussion, he received a message that his father met with an accident and he broke down. It was terrible.” 

"How was he today?",I asked.

"He was alright, confident and cheerful" replied the customer.

"His father met with an accident, but he is alright and confident now, why?"

" Are you kidding? This happened last year, why should he cry now?"

So time has an impact on the mind. The culture, practice and history of a country has also so much influence on the mind of an individual. Even most tragic incident like the death of a dear one fades away from memory as time passes. This capacity of the mind can well be employed in a positive way to make our problems as 'no problems'. Whenever some incident happens which we feel as unbearable, we can train our mind to meditate as though the incident happened a long time ago. By doing this, we will have balance of mind to see the problem objectively and solve it without taking it to heart and feel bad about it. In fact time is a concept of relative reality. It is not absolute. The word ‘now’ may mean anything from a micro second to a decade as per the imagination of the speaker and subject. When you clap your hands, even before you utter the word ‘now’ the sound comes and goes. So what we think as now or present is not even micro seconds. Every present becomes past and disappears from memory until called for. Sometimes they are simply wiped off from memory.

In the same way when some plane accident happens in a distant place, we don’t worry much about that. When the same thing happens in our town, we panic and worry. If it happens next door, the impact is intensive. So distance or space also has its influence on our mind. Out of sight is out of mind. We can meditate on this and develop an attitude to distance ourselves mentally from space and time. This will give us strength to face any problematic, unacceptable situation. With this attitude, what appeared to be a problem is no longer a problem but just a situation.

-Arasu Ramanujam

Three to Infinite

Number three seems to be very special in creation. Starting from three Gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva (for creation, sustenance and resolution) to three states of materials as solid, liquid and vapor, most things can be classified into three. Let us see three important threes to understand the universe, individual and God (Brahman) the cause of all that exists.

 Three Gunas (qualities)

The entire universe is made of three gunas (qualities) called satva (pure, wise), rajas (active) and thamas (dull). Paramaatma, the Supreme God is nirguna (beyond qualities). Maaya (Sakti or energy) is the original material cause of three gunas blessed by Pramaatma, the Supreme God.

Bagavad Gita describes these three gunas in human beings: Satva guna is pure, illuminating and connected to subtle form of pleasure and knowledge. Rajo guna is of colored mind, causes longing and attachment. It is connected to action. Tamas is born of ignorance and causes delusion. It binds the person completely by indifference, slothfulness and sleep. Every person has all the three gunas. When you contemplate, Satva is the dominant guna, when you are in action, you are dominantly Rajas, when you sleep you are dominantly Tamas. Satvic people are mostly contemplative, composed, free from egotism, perform duty with no expectation of results for themselves.  Rajasic people are mostly active, emotional, greedy, unsteady and do things for getting respect and honor. Tamasic people are mostly inactive and sleepy, have deluded understanding, are immature and harm others. So it is clear that by attaining the good qualities of Satva, a man becomes subtler and gets purity of mind. Such a wise person, guided by Guru and scriptures gets to know his real Self.

When a wise man understands that all he sees is just these three gunas and realizes that he is really beyond these three gunas, he gains the nature of Supreme God. The wise man crosses the three gunas that are the cause of the body, released from birth, death, old age and sorrow, gains immortality. Such a person’s mind is cheerful; he does not grieve for anything and feels all beings are the same as himself.

Three Sarirams (bodies)

Human beings have threefold body called sthoola sariram (gross body), soochma sariram (subtle body) and karana sariram (subtle body) as stated in the scriptures. The gross body consists of the five elements - space, air, fire, water and earth. The head, hands, and legs are the parts of the gross body. This gross body is considered as temporary residence of jeeva (individual) by the scriptures. The gross body is like the residential address of an individual. He/she occupies this for a certain period, say, 100 years and vacates this to take another body. The gross body of the individual grows, weakens and finally dies, whereas the jeeva (individual) takes another body after the death of the current body.

The subtle body also consists of the five elements but in subtle form. The subtle body has nineteen parts. They are the five sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue and skin) ; five organs of action (mouth, hands, legs, excretory organ and reproductive organ); five Pranas or functional organs (respiratory, evacuating, circulatory, digestive and reversing); and Anthakarana or internal organ consisting of mind, intellect, memory and ego. Like the gross body, the subtle body is also subject to change. However the subtle body has longer life until resolution of the world and available to oneself only.

The causal body is the potential form before the creation of subtle and gross bodies. This is made of subtlest form of matter known as maaya or prakriti.  Causal body is neither evident to oneself nor others. Causal body has the longest life and not destroyed even during resolution (pralayam). Causal body goes only at the time of moksha or liberation. A wise person getting Self knowledge attains moksha and becomes one with Paramaatma the Supreme God.

Three Avasthas (states)

All beings exist in three avasthas (states): Jagarad avasta (waking state), Swapna avasta (dream state) and Sushupti avasta (sleep state). In waking state the mind is fully functional and the external world is available through sense organs. The experience is available to oneself and others as well. Waking state is dominated by the gross body (sthoola sariram). In dream state only the memory faculty of the mind is functioning (ego, intellect and thinking do not function). This state is internal to the individual; others cannot experience this with the dreamer. The experience is abstract and not concrete. In dreaming state the dominant medium is subtle body (soochma sriram). In sleep state there is neither the external world nor the internal world. It is total blankness, experiencing just ignorance. In this state the dominant medium is the causal body.

The waker is called Vishwa, meaning fully functional, the dreamer is called Thaijasa, meaning internally illumined; the sleeper is called Prajna meaning blissfully ignorant. A human being constantly moves from one state to the other. The dreamer becomes waker and understands that he was the same person who was dreaming. In the same way the sleeper after waking knows that he was the same person who was sleeping. From this it is clear that the real person is different from the sleeper, waker and dreamer. In fact he is the witness of the sleeper, waker and dreamer. The experiences in different states are like the pictures on the screen when we watch a movie. The screen remains the same even as different scenes occupy screen. Maandukya Upanishad teaches the way to transcend the three states by worshipping Omkara. As we have seen above that a wise person knows that he is beyond the three gunas, a wise person also knows that he is different from the waker, dreamer and sleeper, but the witness of all the three and unaffected by any of them.

Infinite

Brahmavallee chapter of Taittireeyopanishad starts with the statement, “The knower of Brahman attains infinite.” Then a Rig mantra is quoted by the Upanishad where in Brahman is defined as Satyam, Jnanam, Anantham meaning Existence, Awareness, Infinite. Though three words are used for our understanding, they all refer to the same Brahman which is indivisible. This is to be recognized in one’s own heart as the very ‘I’. By this one attains total fulfillment as being one with Brahman. The Upanishad then elaborately explains the creation from Brahman. The aim of the Upanishad is to introduce creation from the grossest level and shift our attention from creation to Brahman. The world consisting of the above three gunas, is the effect and Brahman is the cause. The effect (world) does not exist without the cause (Brahman). Having created all beings, Brahman has entered them as the very experience. Hence the very experiencer reveals the existence of Brahman. Therefore a wise man who has understood the above three gunas of prakriti and established in Brahman, is fearless, secured and blissful. For this wise man, anything good or bad is non-different from himself. Nothing in this world stands separate to threaten him.

-Arasu Ramanujam

Soul and science

I was replying to a mail on the internet. Suddenly the computer went off; the room became dark, noise from the air conditioner stopped. Oh God, it is electricity breakdown. This happens often in summer in the place where I live. My thought turned to electricity….

The lamps don’t glow, fans don’t rotate, TV goes blank, bell doesn’t ring! -Everything is dead without electricity. No wonder we say, “Oh God!” when electricity goes off. We can’t think of a world without electricity today. In a way discovery of electricity helps to understand the concepts explained in scriptures on God. The entire universe consists of just two things – Atma (sentient principle) and anatma (insentient matter). Atma, the life principle is like electricity without which nothing moves. The trees grow, birds fly, men walk only in the presence of Atma; just like the fans rotate, lamps glow, bells ring in the presence of electricity. We realize the importance of electricity only when the lamps stop glowing and the fans stop rotating. In the same way we wonder about life principle only when a man is dead and his body has lost its heat, his eyes cannot see, mouth cannot speak. 

Kenopanishad mantra says, “Indeed Atma is the Ear of the ear, the Mind of the mind, the Speech of speech, the Prana (breath) of prana, and the Eye of the eye. The discriminative ones, who know the Atma, give up the identification with body and become immortal after leaving this world.” For the eye to see, you need the power of the eye besides light and an object. Even a dead body has an eye but it cannot see. The above mantra in Kenopanishad says Atma is the real eye behind the eye with which you see. Therefore Atma cannot be seen by your physical eyes, which are just insentient material, which exist because of the support of Atma.

Another mantra of Kenopanishad says, “Brahman is the very consciousness which one does not perceive with the eyes and by which (consciousness) one perceives the eyes”. The same electricity makes the fan rotate, heat the stove, makes the radio sing. These objects are media showing the existence of electricity. Pure electricity is not visible to our eyes. In the same way Atma the cause for our existence is not available to our sense organs. The universal electricity is indivisible but just appears to be separated in the wires into these objects. In the same way indivisible Atma (Brahman) present in jeeva (individual) appears to be different. Therefore Atma is not an object to be known, but the very subject (Self) by which all objects are known. The electric lamp reveals the existence of all objects around us as well as the existence of electricity. In the same way one should recognize Atma (consciousness) that pervades every object, which is different from the objects and reveals the objects.

The Upanishads give us the knowledge beyond the grasp of our ordinary intellect. Science is not opposed to scriptures; rather scientific discoveries help us understand the statements of scriptures. Electricity is perhaps the most important discovery thus far in human history we know. More and more such scientific discoveries take us closer to advaida (non dual) knowledge taught by the Upanishads through great Rishis and Acharyas such as Veda Vyasa and Adi Sankara. The atomic science states that the origin of all elements is the same - Energy. The source of energy (Sakti) is called Ekatma (Universal Consciousness) in scriptures and it is beyond the reach of the sense organs.  Its manifestation is known to us as plurality of objects. The Upanishads, taught by a Guru, reveal the ultimate truth of the individual soul merging with the cosmic soul.

-Arasu Ramanujam

Make your life happy

”I don’t know what to do with you. You just irritate me. I hate to see you” -This young man’s voice was trembling; his body was shaking when he shouted at the other guy in the room. Then he pushed the guy out and shut the door. Such things happen in our hostel, home and work place, when the disagreement goes beyond limits. Just one word made his face red, voice tremble and body shake. What did he say? -’hate’. If this word can be removed from our thoughts, most of our problems vanish. What happens when we hate some one?  It affects us more than the person hated. Sometimes the person we hate may not even be aware of the hatred. Think of a colleague you hate at your work for some reason. Every time he walks across, you feel uncomfortable. Your colleague may not be aware of this. He will be doing his routine as usual without any affliction. You are the person affected because of your hatred towards him.

 Hatred is the number one enemy of mankind. This has been the cause of most of brutal actions including killings. Likes and dislikes are the root cause of hatred. Whenever someone prevents you from getting what you like, you hate that person. We often read in News papers about incidents where someone who is in love with a person or thing has attacked another person who stands in the way and prevents. In a moment of hatred, even loved ones are attacked brutally. Whenever there are likes, the dislikes equally grow in parallel. Whenever the likes are not fulfilled, you dislike the situation and the persons who stand in the way. This starts from childhood. Now a days we hear even a child telling the mother, “I hate you mummy”, when the mother refuses to give the child’s favorite toy. The mother also liberally uses such statements whenever the child refuses to obey her. This has even become a fashion. It is unfortunate that without even our knowledge we are sowing the seed of hatred, the biggest enemy within ourselves from childhood.

As human beings all of us have likes and dislikes. This is natural. But there are good things to like and bad things to dislike. Just like it is good to help others just like it is good to listen to devotional music, disliking tobacco is also good. But in life there are many occasions where our likes clash with each other such as business, employment, education etc. There is competition among the contenders. How can we deal with such situation and avoid hatred? There are three steps to practice:

·         Discourage immoral and unhealthy likes and dislikes

·         Accept different likes and dislikes of others and accommodate them

·         You be the master of your likes and dislikes, do not lose your freedom to say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to your likes and dislikes.

Most of our problems are due to our attitude of non acceptance of difficult situations. No one is exempted from facing difficult situations. Even incarnations had to face difficult situations. This is law of nature. We consider difficult situations as threat to us and resist them. The best way is to undergo the difficult situations wisely as no one can completely avoid such situations. When you resist and hate a situation, you magnify the reality, your mind is over powered and you lose your ability to solve the problem. Above all, when you hate, you create a negative thought. Negative thought attracts negative power. Mind has a tremendous power to create negative events of negative thinking and positive events of positive thinking.

 In God’s creation everything is meaningful. We don’t understand the reasons on many occasions. At a later stage when the events have already passed, we understand some of them. In Bagavad Gita, God describes the qualities of a bhakta (devotee) beloved to Him: “The one who has no hatred for all beings, who is friendly, compassionate, free from possessiveness, free from doership, equal in pleasant and unpleasant situations, accommodative, completely satisfied, always united, who has mastery over his mind, whose mind and intellect are resolved in Me is beloved to Me.”

It is interesting to note that God mentions ‘no hatred for all beings’ as the first quality of his beloved bhakta. The entire creation is His; in fact He Himself is the manifest universe. Therefore the first thing one should learn is acceptance and no hatred for all beings. God is the controller of results of our actions and He gives us the situation including the difficult ones. Therefore when we accept such situations with reverence to God and the world, we will have the strength to face them and solve the problems without hatred. There are only different situations given to us, nothing to hate. So, whenever you come across a difficult situation, suggest to yourself to accept the situation and pray God to give you the strength to face the situation. This will pass. Practice this and see the difference that it makes in your life. Think of the benefits of dropping this word ‘hatred’ form your dictionary. The first benefit is that your BP will not go up; you will live a long and healthy life. Your mind will be always peaceful, thereby increasing your efficiency many times; you can achieve your goals much easier. You create a peaceful atmosphere at home, at work, wherever you are. Just forget this one word and make your life happy.

-Arasu Ramanujam

Glory of Vedas

 Vedas are the source of knowledge guiding human beings from the embryo stage till the end. The word veda in Sanskrit is derived from the root ‘vid’- to know.   Vedas guide human beings through command in the beginning and later by teaching and protecting like a mother. People are of different nature with different likes and dislikes. Some are dull and inactive; they need to be activated first before going into abstract knowledge. Some are active by nature, they have to be regulated and guided to become contemplative. Vedas consider all these factors and give guidance stage by stage to all.

Aim of Vedas

 The aim of Vedas is to guide one to attain liberation (Moksha) while living in this world. Vedas remove ignorance that covers our true nature and leads us to eternal bliss. This is the ultimate goal. Liberation (Moksha) is a state where we are released from bondage. In short Vedas make the unknown known to us, considering our nature. This is the glory of Vedas. Vedas stress the well being of not only human beings but also plants and animals. Vedas emphasize the inter connectivity of human beings, mountains, rivers, planets and stars. The inter dependence of human beings and devatas (divine powers) are discussed in detail. All Vedic injunctions consider both individual and universal well being.                       

Vedas are anaadi (no beginning)

Vedas are ‘anaadi’, without a beginning. Vedas have existed at all times. There is no human authorship for Vedas. Rishis (sages) have seen these vedamantras by their drishti (vision). Already existing Vedamantras were brought to human knowledge by them. That is why Rishis are called seers.  ‘Paramatama’ the Supreme, is beyond time; so are the Vedas. Vedas coexist as breath of Paramatma. Even Brahma, the creator of manifest universe, has a life time (one day of Brahma is 8640 million years) but Vedas are not limited by time.

Vedas and Vedangas

Vedas are vast. At present we only have the knowledge of limited Veda Saakas (branches). There are about thousand two hundred Veda saakas revealed to the Rishis, but at present we only have knowledge of about eight of them. Each saaka (branch) of Vedas have three portions called Samhita, Braahmana and Aaranyaka. Samhita is collection of mantras systematically arranged. The main text of a Veda is its Samhita portion. The Braahmana portion of Veda lists and explains the way of performance of the vedic karmas (rituals). The Aranyaka portion explains the inner meaning and philosophy of Vedas. Upanishads are in the final part of Aaranyaka. Upanishads reveal the Supreme Self through Self knowledge. This knowledge is imparted traditionally by a Guru to sishyas (disciples). Veda Vyasa divided the saakas into four major groupings for our understanding:

·         Rig Veda - The Rig Veda Samhita is in the form of verses, known as ‘Rik’, or hymn in praise. Each Rik is a mantra.

·         Yajur Veda - The main purpose of Yajur Veda is to give the mantras practical shape in the form of Yajna or worship.

·         Saama Veda - The Riks or mantras are set to music in melodious hymns in Saama Veda

·         Atharva Veda - The Atharva mantras are in prose as well as in verse. The mantras in Atharva Veda were brought to light by the Rishi Atharvan.

 Vedas have six Vedangas (organs):

·         Siksha (pronunciation and euphony) - Siksha is the breath of Veda mantras. It fixes the parameters of Vedic words.

·         Vyaakarana (grammar) - Vyakarana of sage Panini is mostly used. It is in the form of sutras or aphorisms.

·         Chandas (poetic meter) - Vedas are also known as Chandas as they are mostly in the form of  verses . It defines the boundaries of metrical composition.

·         Nirukta (etymology) - The vedic dictionary is called Kosa or Nighandu. The Vedic Nighandu explains the origin of each word in the Vedas.  

·         Jyotisha (astronomy) - It is useful in seeing the disposition of planets and stars in time. Garga, Naarada, Paraasara, Varaahamihira and Aarya Bhatta are well known names for their contribution to Jyotisha sastra.

·         Kalpa (procedure) - Kalpa induces one to Vedic action. Kalpa explains how rituals should be done by giving the right mantras, materials and devatas.

 There are also four upangas (subsidiary organs): Meemaasa (interpretation), Nyaya (logic) Purana (mythology) and Dharma sastras (codes of conduct). All the above fourteen are called Dharmapramana, that which give true meaning of Dharma.

 Authority (Sabda pramaana)

Vedas are vibrations and sounds that establish rapport with the Cosmic Breath. The sound while chanting the mantras activates our nerve centers as well as affects the atmosphere, resulting in collective well being. The Rishis were able to capture these vibrations through their penance and capabilities.Vedas are called Pramana, authority. Our five sense organs, eye, ear, nose, mouth and skin are ‘pratyatcha pramana’, giving us direct knowledge of form, sound, smell, taste, and feel. Vedas are considered as our sixth pramana to realise the Self. Hence Self knowledge is attained by learning Vedas through a Guru. Vedas have been passed from one generation to another from mouth to ear and from Guru to sishya tradition. This is made possible because of exclusive rules of pronunciation and prosody followed.

Action and knowledge

The early part of Vedas is known as Veda poorva or karma kanda dealing with action (rituals).The later part of the Vedas is known as Vedanata or Jnaana kanda dealing with knowledge. Karma kanda of Vedas deal elaborately on Yajna (performance of Vedic ritual). Yajna is exclusive to Vedic way of life. Yajna is performance of prescribed rituals with the aid of fire. Yajna purifies the mind when done for the well being of the world. Karma kanda helps man initially to fulfill his personal desires in the righteous way, and then leads him to selfless action and thus purification of mind. With purified and matured mind one pursues self enquiry guided by jnana kanda. Both stages are important to finally attain liberation. Though certain subjects are relevant in the initial levels, they are not relevant at the higher levels of self enquiry. The Upanishads ultimately show us the truth that the individual soul (Jeevatma) merges with the cosmic soul (Paramatma). Adi Sankara selected ten Upanishads and wrote commentary on them. They are: Isa, Kena ,Katha, Prasna, Mundaka, Taittireeya, Maandukya, Aitareya, Chandogya and Brahadharanyaka Upanishads. Other Acharyas have also written their commentaries on these ten Upanishads.

Understanding Vedas

Vedas are also known as ‘Sruti’ as they were originally heard from the Rishis and passed on to next generation by hearing. There are only a few in the world today who can understand the original texts properly with the help of commentaries. Number of facts on astronomy, astrology and mathematical equations found in Jyothisha Saastra are astonishing even to modern scientists. Calculations on origin of creation, division of yugas (unit of cosmic cycle) as Krita, Treta, Dwaapara and Kali with specific number of years, the concept of numeral zero, calculations on planetary positions are a few examples.

 As the Vedas are complicated to comprehend by all, there are other layers made available by Rishis. Sutras (aphorisms) are capsule statements. Smritis (remembered wisdom) are in elaborate form.  Puranas (upanga) mentioned above form the next layer. Pura means ancient and nava means ever fresh, therefore Puranas are ancient but valid and fresh forever. Puranas are much more magnified form of the statements made in Vedas for the understanding of common man. For example one statement of Vedas, “Satyam vada” (speak truth) is the theme of entire Harishchadra Purana. Ramayana and Mahabarata are itihasas, meaning history based literature. We further have bashyas (commentaries) by great acharyas like Adi Sankara. It will be misleading and confusing to study the Vedas without these commentaries and guidance. Therefore it is very important to unlock the scriptural literature with the guidance of a qualified Guru.

-Arasu Ramanujam