Problems and obstacles offer a chance for reflection that otherwise would be precluded by the swift routine of life. Continue reading
Transformation
Only way to change others — Change ourselves first
Look for a moment at someone in your life who bothers you. Describe three things about this person that you don’t like, things that you want him or her to change. Now, look deeply inside of you and ask yourself, “Where am I like that, and when do I do the same things?” Close your eyes and give yourself the time to do this. Then ask yourself if you ARE WILLING TO CHANGE. Continue reading
Top of Mind
The Libran prayer: “Lord, help me to be more decisive… but on the other hand, what do You think?”
“Finally it is Faith that cures.”- Mother
‘In a contrary balance to earth’s truth of things The gross weighs less, the subtle counts for more; On inner values hangs the outer plan.’ —Sri Aurobindo, Savitri
“Good people in a bad system typically go bad. Bad people in a good system become good. That sounds simplistic, but it’s true. For the majority of us, the system becomes your dharma.” – Dr.V
“Soul, stillness, and surrender—these are difficult words to fit into organisational strategy…” Dr.V
“When you begin doing the work you are meant to do, unexpected resources will find you…” – Dr.V
“Make of me what you want” – Dr.V
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Come From Your Heart
“We told people that it’s got to come from your heart, not your head, to be effective,” Kelleher says, “that it’s a feeling of empathy towards your people and of acting out of their best interests. Continue reading
Do the right thing
One thing Hassan did to turn Schering around was to move the sales force’s compensation system from 60/40 salary-versus-commission split to an 80/20 split. Continue reading
Surrender
You mentioned “surrender” a few times. I don’t like that idea. It sounds somewhat fatalistic. If we always accept the way things are, we are not going to make any effort to improve them. It seems to me what progress is all about, both in our personal lives and collectively, is not to accept the limitations of the present but to strive to go beyond them and create something better. If we hadn’t done this, we would still be living in caves. How do you reconcile surrender with changing things and getting things done?
To some people, surrender may have negative connotations, implying defeat, giving up, failing to rise to the challenges of life, becoming lethargic, and so on. True surrender, however, is something entirely different. It does not mean to passively put up with whatever situation you find yourself in and to do nothing about it. Nor does it mean to cease making plans or initiating positive action…..
To….Surrender is the simple but profound wisdom of yielding to rather than opposing the flow of life. The only place where you can experience the flow of life is the Now, so to surrender is to accept the present moment unconditionally and without reservation. It is to relinquish inner resistance to what is. Inner resistance is to say “no” to what is, through mental judgment and emotional negativity. It becomes particularly pronounced when things “go wrong,” which means that there is a gap between the demands or rigid expectations of your mind and what is. That is the pain gap. If you have lived long enough, you will know that things “go wrong” quite often. It is precisely at those times that surrender needs to be practiced if you want to eliminate pain and sorrow from your life. Acceptance of what is immediately frees you from mind identification and thus reconnects you with Being. Resistance is the mind.
Surrender is a purely inner phenomenon. It does not mean that on the outer level you cannot take action and change the situation. In fact, it is not the overall situation that you need to accept when you surrender, but just the tiny segment called the Now.
– Ekhart Tolle from ‘The Power of Now’
Prayer of Surrender
 Why get agitated? Let Me take care of all your business. I shall be the one who will think about them. I am waiting for nothing else than your surrender to Me, and then you do not have to worry any more about anything. Say farewell to all fears and discouragement. You demonstrate that you do not trust Me. On the contrary, you must rely blindly on Me.
To surrender means: To turn your thoughts away from troubles, to turn them away from difficulties you encounter and from all your problems. Leave everything into My hands saying “Lord, Thy will be done. Thou think of it.” That is to say: “Lord I thank you for you have taken everything in your hands, and you will resolve this for my highest good.” Continue reading |
When awareness expands, events that seem random actually aren’t
No one will disagree that life brings challenges, but step back for a moment and ask the deeper question, which is why. Why is life so difficult? No matter what advantages you are born with— money, intelligence, an appealing personality, a sunny outlook, or good social connections— none of these provides a magic key to an easy existence. Somehow life manages to bring difficult problems, the causes of untold suffering and struggle. How you meet your challenges makes all the difference between the promise of success and the specter of failure. Is there a reason for this, or is life simply a random series of events that keeps us off balance and barely able to cope? Continue reading
Sometimes, it is our task to find out how much music we can make with what we have left
Yitzhak Perlman, the great violinist, was playing in New York. Yitzhak Perlman was crippled by polio as a young child, so the bottom part of his body doesn’t work well and he wears these very prominent leg braces and comes on in crutches, in a very painful, slow way, hauling himself across the stage. Then he sits down and, very carefully, unbuckles the leg braces and lays them down, puts down his crutches, and then picks up his violin. So, this night the audience had watched him slowly, painfully, walk across the stage; and he began to play. And, suddenly, there was a loud noise in the hall that signaled that one of his four strings on his violin had just snapped.
ONE TUSK 