Ten steps to face information explosion

Gone are the days of morning coffee with daily news paper. With internet browsing, face book, twitter, blogs and iPhone we have entered into a new world. The ‘web’ is rightly called so as it is woven around us and there is no way we can get out of it. Anything new brings with it advantages as well as hazards. Already we find a number of news items about increase in incidents of divorce, robbery, misappropriation etc. due to information sharing in public sites. When cinema was introduced, in some conservative societies, children were beaten for disobeying parents to watch movies in cinema houses. Now, families sit together in front of TV at home and watch movies. Things keep changing. In the recent past, great revolution has taken place in the way of communication. With BlackBerry and iPhone, information is at your palm anywhere any time. There are attempts to further increase the speed, quality and quantity of information that we can share. There is no end to this. Where are we heading to? What are the gains and losses in the process? How are we preparing ourselves and our children to face this speed in communication? No one can stop the scientific progress whether it is good or bad for the society. The best thing one can do is to know to live with the changes and take the best and leave the rest. Here are ten steps to face information explosion and make the best out of it.

Filter information

The most urgent problem of today is prevention of unnecessary information. On TV you have commercials, at your door steps you have leaflets, and on internet you have all kinds of ads. The first thing one need to learn is to employ filters at every inlet of information.

Measure the time spent on gadgets

Addiction to information and entertainment is dominating human life now. Measure the time you spend on TV, mobile phone, internet. Fix a time limit and try not to exceed the limit.  This should be applicable to all members of the family. It is better to maintain a written record to review oneself.

Allot time for human interaction

The time spent with family members is becoming lesser and lesser with every passing day. Every member of the family is spending more time with PC, TV, mobile phone etc. even while at home. Unless we deliberately allot time to interact with other human beings, our tendency to interact with gadgets will keep growing. This is most unfortunate as no gadget can ever replace human beings. Having dinner together and playing with children help us understand each other and make life more meaningful.

Help children to handle information

If you really want your children to be secured and safe, give them the right training to handle information. The next generation is going to have sharper, faster information invasion. Perhaps the most important education your children now need is to resist unnecessary and harmful information. Children may not obey you. But they will certainly imitate you, especially the wrong things that you do. The best contribution you can make to your children is not wealth but being a role model in handling information inlets like TV, mobile phone etc.

Don’t be a couch potato

There is a lot of talk about health hazards due to excessive use of TV, mobile phone, PC etc. There are arguments and counter arguments. But it is simple common sense that anything used excessively is bad for health. Sitting in a place and looking at PC or TV is certainly going to affect your blood circulation. Human body is meant for both thinking and action. It is good to spend time with nature-beach, mountain, riverside, lake anything that is possible. Spend time playing games, watching birds, admiring animals, walking in woods. This is good for health and keeps you away from gadgets.

Watch your budget

Keep an eye on your budget and check how much you spend on getting useless information in the name of communication or entertainment. Intelligent use of money and time on information and entertainment is helpful, but excessive use damages both mind and health. Irrespective of income levels, balancing the spending between basic needs, essential communication, information and entertainment is important for a healthy family.

Spend time with you alone

Ask yourself how much time you have spent alone without any gadgets around you. Even today there are people in some parts of the world live without electricity, TV, internet etc. Just imagine you are in a forest alone-simply nature and you. Still you can live and live peacefully. So take out time to be alone- Just you with you. This gives you inner strength. Realize your power as sentient and intelligent being. All materials around you are just dead without you. You need exclusive time with you to realize your power. You need to deliberately get away from the world of information to see your inner strength at least a few hours in a week.

Beware of information hazards

Always be alert on information hazards- For example, food and health information may be specific to a particular society and geography, may not be applicable to you. Tempting information may distract and eat away your time. Certain information may have deep psychological effects on you and spoil your day. It is important to have training to look for the correct information from standard sites and choose the required data to prevent distraction and wastage of time. It is useful to have open discussion with children and guide them.

Protect personal information

People in limelight are thrown out overnight due to leakage of personal information. Intruding in personal life has become a trend today. Taking care of personal information today is as important as health insurance. All your acts to become popular must always be with precaution on information that you share.

Keep the control with you

People in previous generations had to struggle to get information. Now our struggle is to restrict information. Today, the ability to prevent unnecessary information is a great value. Get information, but not get lost in it. Keep the control with you and make the best out of it.

-Arasu Ramanujam

How not to be hurt

When are we hurt? Whenever we are not respected, discouraged, ignored, misunderstood….. In our daily life we have to come across different types of people. We have no control over their behavior. Whenever we feel hurt by words or action of others, there is a wound in mind. When repeated, these wounds get accumulated, get deeper and take control of our mind. We know how to deal with physical wounds, but we find it difficult to handle mental wounds. We will be wasting our precious life with painful moments if we cannot handle mental wounds. Life will be more meaningful and enjoyable if we can handle this problem. Let us see some important steps to heal the mental wounds and get rid of them.

·    Know the root cause - Basically the hurt feeling is due to the difference in how one wants to be treated and how one is being treated. So the cause is in self estimation and expectation.                           

·     Accommodate - You know well that you cannot estimate a person exactly the same way as the person estimates him or herself; in the same way it is not possible for any person in this world to estimate you the same way as you do. Accommodate the differences.

·     Acknowledge opposition - Direct your actions as per the need of the situation following ethics and norms. Once action is over, do not worry about prejudiced comments. In human history every great leader including Mahatma Gandhi, had critics. You need not accept every view, but you have to acknowledge opposite views.

·     Learn - If you look back at your life, you might recognize many occasions where others had better ideas than you, and you did not get them right. Whenever you are criticized, instead of retarding, begin to analyze and learn to improve yourself.

·    Speak out - Do not keep the wound in mind. It becomes bigger and deeper. Nobody can help if you keep your problem in your mind. Speak out. Best way is to speak to the concerned. Otherwise discuss the problem with your friends.

·     See positive - Do not develop hatred towards the person or situation that hurts you. See positive things about that person or situation. Rose plants will have thorns. Instead of brooding over the unpleasant incident, engage yourself in positive activities.  

·     Seek help - There is one relationship which is permanent, trusted and always available-God. Tell Him your feelings and seek help.

When one practices these steps and seeks God’s help, not only the wound gets healed but also the person gets matured and the root cause is visible clearly. Bagavad Gita elaborately discusses about the values to be followed by discriminative, contemplative persons who can be free from mental wound. ‘Absence of conceit, absence of pretention and accommodation’ are some of the values stated. ‘Not hurting’ is mentioned as an important value to be followed. So, if one does not want to be hurt, he or she should first restrain from hurting others.

Further while describing the three gunas (sattva, rajas and tamas) Krishna tells Arjuna, “When one  does not see an agent other than the gunas and when he knows himself as beyond the gunas, he gains my nature. Crossing these three gunas, those are the cause of the body, one gains immortality .”

Listening to this, Arjuna asks Krishna, “What are the characteristics of the person who has crossed these three gunas?”

Krishna says, “Such a person, a gunatita, is not shaken by gunas, is the same in pleasant and unpleasant situations, same with reference to censure or praise and is the same towards respect and insult.”

You are not hurt and you don’t hurt any when you know that you cannot be really hurt.

-Arasu Ramanujam

Limited to limitless

There seems to be a limit to everything that man can do. There is limit to eat, limit to speed, limit to authority…. However people always strive to exceed the limit. The very same object that gives pleasure turns out to be unpleasant and harmful when the limit is exceeded. A person who likes cakes finds it very tasty when eating the first cake. When he is offered too many cakes beyond his limit, he says, “No, thanks, it is enough, no more cakes”. What is the difference between the first cake and the last one? The cake is the same. When the limit is exceeded, what is dear becomes bitter. When the limit is self imposed, we are in control of things; otherwise we are being controlled. We also find that the recorded limits are continuously broken as in the case of champions in Olympics.  In all our interaction with the external world, we are limited by speed, time, space etc. Human body has limits in height, weight and sense perception just like the earth on which we live also has its limits. We find ourselves limited and the things around us are also limited. However, we keep  trying to break these limits. We always have an inner urge to be limitless. There seems to be a contradiction between the limited person and the urge to become limitless. Is there a solution to this issue? Can one become completely limitless and be free from all restrictions?

Bagavad Gita says,”The limitless self is the purusha, the person who is limitless, in this body, the ultimate seer, sustainer and enjoyer. Further Bagavad Gita states, “The limitless self can be seen by meditation, inquiry and karma yoga”. The real nature of self is limitless. Ignorance covers the true nature of oneself and hence there is a continuous attempt to become limitless. How can one become limitless from a limited entity? Limitlessness is eternal and beyond time and space. Therefore Gita says, “One who sees the non destructible Lord in all perishable things alone sees”. Our sense organs and mind if used in the right direction with proper guidance can reveal the truth. Proper action, meditation and devotion can take us to self knowledge. By self knowledge one can become limitless. Let us see some practical steps towards this ultimate goal.

·    There is nothing wrong in trying to expand our limits as individuals. Our physical body is meant for action and without action we cannot progress. Recognize the fact that the limits in physical world are due to the identification of oneself with the physical body and mind. These limits can also be expanded to an extent by sincere efforts.

·    Set a target for the desired expansion and work towards it in proper, legitimate ways with enough knowledge, training and efforts.

·    While expanding, learn to appreciate the needs of fellow beings and help them in their expansion.

·    Continuously increase dharmic (good and beneficial to society) activities and reduce adharmic (evil and illegitimate) activities. Take control of sense organs and mind by regular practice and dedicated action.

·    Develop an attitude to love and appreciate everything around. See God in His creation…plants, animals, fellow beings, mountain, river….sky, stars….in everything that is seen.

·    In all the actions, aim for excellence and accept the results as they come by. The results are given by God as per merits of action.

When these steps are practiced, one finds himself in harmony with nature, gains self esteem and grows internally. Now the mind is prepared to accept the facts as they are and seek the way to see the limitless self.

·    With a clear and peaceful mind, expansion takes place internally. The matured mind accepts the external world in its totality.

·    Regular, spontaneous practice of dedicated action, meditation and devotion to Lord lead one to enquiry about one’s own self.

·    Possessions, responsibilities and relationships are treated objectively without attachment and hence no pains and fear of security. This is indication of internal strength.

·    With this inner strength, one can realize the Supreme Lord outside and inside of all beings. The Supreme Lord remains undivided in the beings and is only seemingly divided.

·    Craving for individual ownership and control gradually gets reduced as the realization of the fact that everything that exists belongs to the Lord, becomes firm.

·    One understands the real nature of self and hence not affected by the limits of external world. One becomes one’s own source of permanent peace, security and happiness.

Consciousness is not limited by the boundaries of the body; consciousness pervades and enlivens the body and continues to exist ever without limits. The individual who realizes this truth is limitless.

-Arasu Ramanujam