Solitude

Source: Maria Popova Blog

Adam Philips says:
Fertile solitude is absolutely essential - not only for our creativity but for the basic fabric of our happiness.
Solitude - is defined as the "time and space unburdened from external input and social strain"
we need this solitude - to fully inhabit our life - which is the raw material of all art

My words:
solitude is the gap that i need to seek in the Chitta; i need to seek this solitude through the meditation (breathing rhythmically) to involve inner energy
such solitude will do us more good - than the banalities of togetherness

Authors

Maria Popova

Adam Philips       

Mukund

         Solitude

For we enjoy this
the greatest of pleasures
all the more
when we are absent from one another

Seneca is talking about solitude here. Solitude is about when we reflect; cherish ; that which happens in the absence of others

why?
because, in presence of friends, we get happy first, but then, we engage in fripperies, chit-chats, and small talk!

spend time in solitude
Contemplate, reflect and cherish

Authors

Seneca       

 

         Stillness

You are at peace with yourself
when no noise readies you
when no word shakes you
be it flattery or threat or din

practice stillness
through Yoga
become unruffled due to external ripples

YogaschittaVrttiNirodah
Yoga is the restraint of Chitta Vrttis!

Authors

Seneca       

Patanjali 

 

         Cease from anxiety

The true husbandman will cease from anxiety, 

as the squirrels manifest,no concern 

whether the woods will bear chestnuts this year or not,

 and finish the labor every day, 

relinquishing all claims to the product of his fields, and sacrificing in his mind

 not only to his first but his last fruits also
Pg.88 Walden Thoreau

Finish the labor every day -

 give away all the claims - relinquish
do not claim any entitlement to the fruits
this is the karma-yoga -

 you are entitled to the duty 

- not to the outcomes;

for to do the duty is in your control;
for the outcomes are not in your control;
if you realize this
you shall cease from anxiety!

Authors

Henry David Thoreau       

 

         Crafting stories out of past events is very human impulse

Crafting stories out of past events is a very human impulse - it is also dangerous and untrue
Ryan Holiday pg. 109; ego is the enemy

you don't fall into trap of your own story. Our mind is the biggest scriptwriter - screenplay writer. It creates binaries of all kinds:

 fantasies - problem - 

hero-villain :

 victim: solider: 

pathos : victory: 

All kinds of emotions - yeah dont fall into it 

Imagine a silver screen - flashing in your minds. its running movies with Your self as hero/heroine

so don't gloat; or ruminate 

 - don't fall into stories of your own making. 

 don't fall into the melodrama

Authors

Ryan Holiday       

Complete ; Don't Compete

 Complete; Don't Compete

I don't try to compete with anybody; I try to complete everybody;

Eknath Eswaran; how to find happiness: pg 17

continuing on the formula of Joy = Give/Expect;
let us discuss about expectations; the great expectations; and how I need to reduce that to zero;

and not only that I need to  complement the expectations by giving; 

 Buddha says: " don't ask how much you can get, but how much you can give, in every way possible ; in kitchen ,in garden , in store, in office, everywhere"

Eswaran says: as a result of completing others, and not competing, i don't feel any tension or fatigue"

To Give is inside-out; you have it in your control;
To expect is outside-in; you don't have any control; so don't expect; stop expecting; that is way to Joy!

Authors

Eknath Eswaran

Buddha       

 

         Clear out of my way!

Clear out of my way! everyone - I am coming!
The Human Machine

Kindness, Cheerfulness is rendered difficult for me. why?
I expect that others shall clear out of my way
but not everyone does
I had to have expected that
but even as I know in the corner of my mind
that not everyone shall clear out
I blame - I mean I groan -I make it difficult for myself

so the habit then is this:
I need to reflect on myself
My difficulties are within myself
rather than expecting others to clear out of my way
let me clear the way for others!

Authors

Arnold Bennett       

 

         It is poise not Pose

from the biography of William T Sherman (American general with Abraham Lincoln)

There are 2 types of people - First, who rise to fame and achievement through their belief in themselves;
and there is another kind - it is slow growth based on actual achievement. for the second type, success is a constant surprise - with a haunting sense of self-doubt, if it's not all a dream. in that doubt lies true modesty

for the first group, belief in themselves - is dependent on Ego, which is in fact nothing. Shakespeare called it thus - "Frailty, thy name is Ego"

my words:
Ego is a scaffolding made of spaghetti; don't rely on it to build your life!

Authors

Ryan Holiday

William t Sherman

Shakespeare       

 

         Stoics would call it Sympatheica

Stoics would call it Sympatheica - connectedness with cosmos
pg.139: Ego is the enemy

I am one in 7 Billion Earth is one tiny speck of Sun Sun is one tiny star among billions in Milky Way is one such galaxy among the millions of galaxies in Universe That is Infinity!

I being this tiny speck - I have more go than I should have;
let me do selfless work ;
connect with others;
give for sake of giving, even those who cannot do me favors;
and connect with Nature - to feel oneness;
Calmness, Serenity, Goodness!
All I can attain by ego-crushing!

Authors

Ryan Holiday       

Ego is the Enemy

 

         Ego

Ego is the only barrier between us and unity of life - between us and the lord within

how to find happiness - pg.15  Eknath Eswaran

Ego definition: A conscious seperation from everything ...Alcoholics Anonymous

Ego is what creates the divide - it uses the concept of divide and conquer;
creates the wedge between me and the world;
ego segments and segments - like a marketing guru - 

and conquers me and makes me unhappy in the whole process

how then do I conquer ego? there is only one way - engage in self-less work;
give, share: without expectations and without show-off

give for sake of giving;
more you do this - more you think unity;

As Carl Jung says , only with ego reduction , you can shift your CG from ego to Self;
from material plane to spiritual plane

"The more the selfless work you do, without even a thankyou - smaller the ego becomes - zero expectations ;
Joy = Give/Expect;
then joy becomes infinite!

Mark of maturity is easy: mature person is a giver; the immature person is a grabber " Eknath Eswaran

Authors

Eknath Eswaran       

Check your ego at the doorstep

         Check your ego

Check your ego and medal at the door

I have solidified ego - crush it
Thick ego - dilute it
diluted ego - vaporize it

Become sublime - by vanishing the ego within - and reach the inner recesses of your spirit!

 

         remember not to retaliate

remember not to retaliate in words or actions; eventually, you will find it impossible to even think of hurtful thoughts;

Don't retaliate; 

Shane Parrish says that "Tit-for-Tat" is not an effective strategy; only animals do that;
I have this tendency - to give back nicely - I fall into this trap of bi-polar attitude: my way-high-way;victory- defeat; enforcing  self-will; on being right;

little do I realize that it results only in alienation;
what is the purpose of victory when it creates the divide?

The biggest obstacle I think is oneself;
I need to get myself out of self-will; out of my own way;
there is a big boulder on my journey to Self; that is myself;
I need to reduce my self-will and what shines forth then is love ;

instead of causing hurt, my presence should be to help and heal!

Authors

Eknath Eswaran       

 

         True friend

what is a definition of a true friend?

one who makes himself an advantage to his friend;
not the one who tries to take advantage of his friend;
if you are saying you are a true friend to someone
put the above test for yourself!

Authors

Seneca       

 

         perplexing paradox

Its a perplexing paradox; so long we try to make ourselves happy, life places obstacles in our path; the moment we turn away from ourselves to make others happy, our troubles begin to melt away,
joy comes working for us;

Gandhi says : "My life is an indivisible whole; I am trying to reduce myself to a zero"

Forget yourself; focus on others; what I can give others;
Time and Energy to help others;
I have this problem of creating a universe around myself!

I need to remind myself of this :
I am one in 7 Billion people on Earth
Earth is one tiny speck of solar system
Sun is one tiny star among billions in Milky Way
The Milky way is one such galaxy among the millions of galaxies in the Universe
That is Infinity!

Then who am I? I am just a tiny speck
why am I having this ego?
why cannot I make this world a better place by helping others?

Authors

Eknath Eswaran       

 

         For those that things that fortune holds sway

For those that things that fortune holds sway are :
chattels, money, passion, positions;
they are weak; stifling, prone to perish and of uncertain future;

Seneca says, power, position, prosperity are all mortal, shifting , wavering, and of uncertain future;

whereas works of virtue are free and unsubdued;

virtues rise above fortune when it treats you kindly
virtues rise above adversity when it weighs you down

virtue overwhelms all pains, annoyances, and wrongs

 

         Fortune has given; Fortune has taken away

Be grateful for what you possess today.
Count your blessings - add them up
Position, Money, Title, Roles, Relations;
Hold them lightly and not tightly

Thank all the people who gave it for you -
parents, in-laws, Bosses, Peers, Team members and Relatives;
I thank each one of them for making me successful
Having thanked each one of them including the God
Hold the possessions lightly, not tightly

All these external thingies are fripperies - 

they are outside you and can be taken away; 

so hold them light; like as if holding cotton wool in the palm;
for they are mere externals;

Fortune has given them to you;
Fortune can take them away as well!
Farewell!

Authors

Seneca       

 

         Be an Accountant!

Look at what they call Active Life!
Look at the day of Active Men and Women!
All-day along
they contrive and consult
how to wring their profit out of
Food stock, Farm plots, and the like

But what I call an active life is this
Learn what the administration of the world is!
what place being endowed with reason holds therein!
To consider what you are yourself!
what is Good and what is evil in your Today!
What you gave today and what you took today!

Rather than being "bean-counter" , 

counting profits - day after day, - 

be an accountant of the  good and evil; Give and take"

Authors

Epictetus       

The arc of moral universe

 

         The arc of the moral universe

The arc of the moral universe might not be so different from that of the stem bent with bluebells tolling their vernal reminder that change comes in cycles.

Life goes on in cycles - cycles as in physics ;

every arc is but a segment of a circle. draw your life cycle - with a steady hand - as we try widening our circles of compassion - without assurance of immediate results - or expectations;

give it away without expectations; make that impact o in the universe with one positive push - with zero expectations ;
that will lead to peace of mind - care - quality- Joy;
And if success can be called anything
It is this! It is this! It is this!

Authors

Maria Popova       

Enrich life of others

 

         Enrich the lives of others

We are all sent into life for one task: to enrich the lives of others
anyone who takes from life without giving, says Bhagavad Gita, is a Thief


Spend your time, energy, your resources in giving more and still more
if you wish for a true lifetime o happiness, dissolve your ego in the service of others
KarmaSutras: Debhashis Chatterjee

I is Illness; We is wellness says Dr.B.M.Hegde 

givers grow to the top by social capital; social capital * intellectual capital = reputation capital;

the opposite of happiness is not sadness; it is selfishness; you keep feathering your own nest - you are not going to be happy in Life!

when I forget myself in the happiness of those around me, I glow with life and beauty;
when I begin to brood on myself, to think only about my likes and dislikes and follow my self-will, I deteriorate - physically mentally intellectually, and spiritually (Lord Buddha)

give without thought of remuneration, reward, or recognition, see the benefits in moving from self-centeredness to other-centeredness;     

You imagine to be a Champion at Olympics

 You imagine to be a Champion at Olympics

Go ahead. Yeah!

But wait!

Have you weighed the considerations?

To live by rules and Submit to diet

Abstain from dainty foods

Exercise your body at unearthly hours, in heat or cold!

Drink nothing but water!

Practice with face pressed to the ground

Sprain the ankle, Gulp the yellow sand

and still, lose the victory by a mere whisker

In a word, you Sacrifice!

If your desire still holds - try the wrestler's life!

Else never merely desire! Like the kid in the candy store,

wanting everything, but none with your whole soul!

Weigh the gain, Count the cost

with due consideration and make a thoughtful choice

If you will, and then lay your hand

You may gain Freedom, Tranquility, and Serenity

Worthy of an Olympic Champion

Playing this Infinite Game called Life!

(Adapted from the book:Six Pack Stoic: Golden Sayings of Epictetus)     

 

         Daily meditation

Circumstances of this day are my raw material

It is the business of my brain to make use of this material

My brain is in its box - for that sole purpose!

Not Tomorrow! Not Next year!

Not when I have made my fortune!

Not when my backache is cured!

Not when my spouse has returned to senses!

Not when I get that raise!

Not when my kid starts listening to me!

But Today exactly!



I need to face the facts of the Today

Which in my degeneracy I termed as Anxieties, Nuisances & Impediments

I need to regard them as the raw material

From which my brain has to weave

A tissue of life that is comely!


I need to make the most of Today

For Obstacle is the Way!     

 

         Fight for Truth about Trivia

Arnold Bennett

I get into a tangle in the fight for truth - about Trivia - as if I am the self-appointed messiah - chosen to spread Truth in this World- 

now if it's about the real Truth its good- 

but rather i get into a mess with others  about Trivia- that I get into the arguments
My way or High way !

now allow me to coach myself -

 I need to meditate on below words  every day!

"Truth is destructible
The truth will be out
Truth is never in a Hurry
There is nothing cosmic in Truth about Trivia
If I am right, when the truth is out,
My reputation will be consolidated
If I am wrong,then its better for me that I have not been too positive

I better realize that I am not the sole -custodian of great truth
I was not brought out into the world to be a safe-deposit of Truth
I am not the President of the Association for propagation of truth"

I need to meditate this daily
And avoid much needless friction
between me and the World, 

at large     

How to attain the right mental tone?

 

Stoicism's first principle goes like this :

Stimulus => Judgment/Opinion=> Reaction

In yoga philosophy, they call the judgment/opinion as Vrtti - the chatter-it is the perturbations of manas (mind), buddhi (intellect) , ahamkara (ego), and Chitta (shuttle that links mind to memory);
it is the Vrtti (Chatter) that leads to the mental tone;

Vrtti is of 5 types:

1. Right Knowledge of Reality
2. False knowledge of Reality
3. Imagination (No reality at all )
4. Memory (Impressions of indriyas -senses on Manas)
5. Sleep

In this post, I am going to focus on Vrtti called Sleep

Sleep throws me into a disturbance; Why?  While the body gets to rest, my mental tone is disturbed;
So the first thing I need to do in the morning is to Tone it up! through Practice 
Like body needs to be done through physical exercise, I need to tone my mind through the right notes
by Reading inspirational books

Books Like - Meditations by Marcus Aurelius - Letters from a Stoic by Seneca - golden sayings of epictetus are my morning tonic to set my mental framework right

And so when I do that reading and taking notes day in my notebook day after day, I am able to sync out - the false knowledge - Imagination

By this way, of mental toning, I shall reduce the friction in the 'system,' 'environment' and stay engaged

The Daily friction

 

The Human Machine - Arnold Bennett - Loc 418

A day can be the banalest thing that can happen
It comes seven days a week
52 weeks per year - over the lifetime of an individual

On the other hand, the day can be the most elixir thing of life
A day can be the microcosm of life - summer, winter, autumn and spring
The key challenge I face is - after a night's sleep of rest- how to face the day?
with all its encumbrances

So the primary purpose for me should be to deal with the daily friction
and face the day confidently, quietly - through what i call "lubrication"

The chief cause of the friction is due to my attitude
My attitude of blame -due to judgment/opinion
and my mind starts chattering - mental tone -
and when the situation pops - it emerges as a vocal tone. friction.

And the point is - " why should you not school your mental tone daily?
that is the only lubrication ;
So that you don't regret that 
"The tone was out of my mouth before my brain woke up" A.B

Authors

Arnold Bennett       

 

         When I am angry

Arnold Bennett - The Human Machine

When I am angry, I need to tell myself :

I am making a donkey of myself
Understand? Yes a Preposterous Donkey
I am behaving like an infant
I look like a fool in front of others
I am like an arrant ass
Pitiable object of contempt
Laughable by others in secret
A donkey, whose reasoning has been put out
by the fire called Instinct!

 

         Praise that in man which is his own

Seneca - Pg 60: Letters from a Stoic

A retinue of comely slaves
large farm, Huge Income
Beautiful House
None within man himself
None his own
And can be snatched away
None of them her peculiar property

So what is peculiar?
It is soul and reason brought to perfection is your own
and to live in accordance with Nature is Salvation!

 

         Working with others

I don't like that man. I must get to know him better. Abraham Lincoln

I need to deal with them - one by one - the individual;
Seek by a deliberate effort of imagination and Reasoning
To understand them ;
Why do they act the way they do
What their difficulties are
and How the friction can be avoided
I need to do this morning after morning
And as I do this, I shall lose the preposterous habit of blaming others!

Arnold Bennett: The Human Machine: Loc 405

 

         Words should be scattered like Seed;

Words should be scattered like Seed; once it finds the favorable ground,Reason then would spring like a Tree;
Letters from a Stoic; Seneca - Pg.56

I am reminded of the LinkedIn post titled 

"Think like a Farmer"

A farmer chooses the right crop for the Soil;
Irrigates the Soil
fertilizes the Soil
removes Weeds
Does not shout at Crops
Knows that the Weather is beyond control
And work with it

Develop a favorable mind - to assimilate the seeds of thought
Work every day to develop a favorable mind
Cultivate the Mind
And strengthen the reason everyday
Manovriksham - as they call in Sanskrit - Mindtree
Be a Farmer!

 

         Tennis

To win the Championship, you need to win matches!
To win the Match, you need to win the sets!
To win the Set, you need to win the Games
To win the Game, you need to win the Points
To win the Point, you need a Winner
To hit a Winner, you need to focus in the Present
And thats the only thing I can control


"I am motivated by History. But also, i am aware that it can put a lot of expectations on my shoulder. I just want to focus on the Basics" Novak Djokovic - before the championship final of US open of 2021 - on verge of creating the history of grand-slam-

Djokovic lost the US Open final -2021 and failed to create history of Grans-slam! maybe the pressue of expectations!

Don't allow the expectations to get ahead of you! 

 

         Be in the Present

"When you are in the field, you don't realize what has been done before. How many overs you have bowled - because the important thing is to do the Job for the Team" - Jasprit Bumrah

"That's why I work hard in the Gym
Work hard on my Diet
Work hard on everything that I can try and control"

A great message :
Work hard on things i can control
Work doubly hard on things I can control
Being in the Present

That's all I can do!

Authors

Jasprit Bumrah       

         On Fear

What must be endured once, Fear causes us to endure twice or many more times, spoiling the enjoyment of the Present"
Seneca: Pg.234

Seneca says :
"We are wretched before wretchedness begins
Anxious before losses occur
Losing sight of Present"

Fear is an opinion of what is to come
And that opinion must be tested for facts

"For we should not mistake - a dusted cloud of stampeding cattle for the Enemy's cavalry
And for some reason, it is the false reports that disturb us the most " Seneca

 

         On living

"Is the eternity of life in the drags or is it the latest and purest part of all?"

Seneca answers it : Old age is : purest at the end, if and only if, the mind is unimpaired, senses sound, and provide support to the spirit.
If mind, body, and soul are not used for service, why should one not free the struggling soul?

A man performing service - is lengthening his life
A man self-serving - is lengthening his death

Authors

Seneca       

JOURNEY is the Deal

JOURNEY is the Deal

Man's soul is haunted by feeling that as years slip-by, and slip--by and slip-by, they have not been able to get their lives into proper working Order

Arnold Bennett: How to live on 24 hours a day

A.B. " If we analyze the haunted feeling, it is permanently due to the uneasiness, of expectations., of looking forward, of aspirations and followed by the feat of not doing much about it"

For ex., a man wants to go to Mecca - he starts the Journey - he may drown before Port Said- or shall perish ingloriously on the coast of the Red Sea - and his desire may remain eternally frustrated.
But, he will not be tormented in the same way as the man who also desired to reach Mecca - but never leaves his home"

So the message i am getting is this - "Start" the journey-towards a fruitful purpose - you need not worry about reaching the destination - but the fact that you started - will eliminate the haunted feeling - inside you;
"Journey is the deal - not the destination"

Authors

Arnold Bennett       

 

Play The infinite game

Simon Sinek...YouTube Video

Are you playing the finite game or the Infinite game -Mukund?
In a finite game, players stay on - game is finished;
Winners take all and Losers;

In Infinite game, Game goes on
Players are finished
No winners and losers
Motto is to keep the game continuing

Play the infinite game Mukund- which is the game with yourself
Did you improve today?
If so in what sense?
Contemplate and Reflect each day, the day's hunt

So how do you compete with yourself
Get the purpose
My Purpose :
To care and have intent about everything I do, and teach others to be as awesome as they can be
I need to write my purpose everyday

Seneca said to me today -Count how many ambitions you have attained - if you see many ahead of you -Gap- think how many are behind you - Gain "
Play the infinite game - if you do - win or lose- you carry on each day - energized, ebullient, enthralled to face each day
And what more needed in life than this!

Authors

Simon Sinek

 

Time is a great deal more than Money

Loc 82 : How to live 24 hours a day...Arnold Bennett

Time is the inexplicable raw material of everything - It is a great deal more than Money

Time	Money
No one can take your Time	Money can be lost or stolen
Waste it and cannot be refilled	Waste Money and you may regain
You cannot borrow or loan	Can borrow Money or Loan
With more time you can gain more money	WIth more Money you cannot gain more Time
Time is subtle	Money is gross
No book on:"How to live on given amount of time	Many books on "How to live in given amount of Money"

Time is the most inexplicable raw material out of which you have to spin health, pleasure, money, content, respect and evolution of your immortal soul

Story telling

 

The most powerful story in the world is the one you tell yourself

@ShaneParrish

My mind is a script writer ; It creates plots out of nothing - It has a protagonist (usually myself , i double up as Producer)
Antagonist (Others and Circumstances - 

Problems- Solutions- Approach- 

My minds is a fertile field of drama and theatrics
Full of video and audio in my mind screen
Running the shows continuously through the day
Continuing as dreams even in the night!

Without intermission!
All these happening between in grey matter between my 2 ears and between the neck and head!

I rather need to watch for the stories that run in my mind on autopilot mode

I need to train my brain - 30 minutes at least each day
To reason out the stories
And tell myself the right stories!

Work Life balance

 

Work-life balance is clear - if we call it what it really is : Neglect avoidance

@Evan Laponte

lets demystify Work-Life :
Work is something you do to : pay your bills;
Work = play + Pay

now what is life :
Life is :
you and Family;
Health
Interests

What are you neglecting on this above basket?

Authors

Evan Laponte

Tempus Ager Meus

 

Tempus Ager Meus: Time is my estate

pg.28 : the practicing stoic

treat time as the only estate : you possess;
cultivate it productively;
weed out the noxious elements;

To lose cash is alarming to all;
To lose time is alarming to few;

Authors

Girolamo Cardano

Worry , Future and Present

 

Those who worry about future are failing to profit from the Present

Seneca - Letters from a Stoic

Much of the pain is due to the projecting life into forward;
and that induce fear and anxiety - instead why dont you profit from the present?

Fear and hope are like lock chain - they go in lock-step with each other;

Arnold Bennett : says this :
we are like the Italian donkeys - whose pace may be hurried by fixing a stick on their heads with stack of hay at end of it;
Hay is always in front of the donkey ; and they keep trying to get at it;
we go on living like the donkey, ad interim;
until at last we die;

What we call business is purely above : chasing incentives : the next year and the next quarter : i am a donkey; the italian donkey; whatever sugarcoating i can put on ; i am just that;

As Thoreau calls it : "Its a fool's life , having coming to the end of life, we realize that we have not lived at all"

Better I take charge of the Present

Authors

Seneca

Arnold Bennett

Henry David Thoreau

 

Errors in Valuation

We
Overvalue Money
Undervalue Time

Overvalue Material goods
Undervalue Intangibles

Overvalue self
Undervalue Others

Overvalue Past/Future
Undervalue Present

Overvalue Ambitions
Undervalue Detachment

Overvalue Bravado
Undervalue Restraint

Overvalue what others have
Undervalue What we have;

Authors

Ward Farnsworth

 

Write in Long form

When stressed out , write in the long-form

Today on , Aug 3rd 2021, i woke up with a bit of stress- about a project;
because the new scopes are emerging day by day and very short scope of work with extreme urgency;
so what i did was to pick a piece of paper and wrote a list of things to do - thoughts circling my mind.
I always knew this - but in the moments of stress - my mind forgets; and i used to think that i need to type this in computer - and for that i need to crank my computer up etc.,
so the alternative is to write on a notebook in the longform;
have a notebook : or 2 notebooks : problem notebook ; solution notebook; and start putting the thoguhts on the notebook - write in the long form;
handwriting is an issue- as is scribbled - my daughter calls it Gibberish!!! - but i can improve;

Authors

mukund

 

Hasten to find yourself first

Seneca Pg.53 - letters from a stoic

I need to find the person i want to become ;
difference between the master and apprentice is that , master knew very early in life what to do and what to become!
masters (1%) stretch their thoughts to the level that -
they know the person they want to become
they desire the same thing everyday

On the other hand, apprentices (99%) keep tossing here and there ; heading in various directions; in the direction of the wind;
As Buckminsrer Fuller alludes to, Apprentice (apprachattais in Vadivelu language (😁) do not have the rudder(airplane)  to guide themselves and leverage the wind and water to better effect

Seneca says to find yourself first before finding the Money / profession;
Person you become is more important than the Position, Place , Prosperity you may attain!

so first find yourself!
if you are constantly dissatisfied with yourself, and feeling a sense of gap, then you have not found yourself! Seneca

Authors

Seneca

 

But what is your opinion?

Seneca : Letters from a Stoic : Pg.51

This is what Zeno said

that is what Socrates said,
This is what the opinion of Cleanthes

but what have you yourself said?
I am asking you, - but what is your opinion?
How long shall you march under another's orders?
Take command, utter some words that posterity shall remember
Daring to put to practice ,what you are preaching!

Authors

Seneca

What a curious man!

 

What a curious man! Half-monk and Half-race track operator!

Aldous Huxley on Alan Watts

this is continuing on the topic of relaxed-active phase;

I am thinking of this 2X2 model in which i need to operate!

I approach any new week or activity with anxiety;
either being passive or being active - but anxious of Tomorrow;

rather i need to move into this relaxed -active phase

relaxed as Monk - but active as a Race track driver

I remember the book titled -" Go slow to Grow fast" Brent R Tilson

Brent says " A colleague of mine races Porsches : he gives the image of the Racer; If you want to win, you need to know how to slow down as much as how to speed up. How you enter and exit a corner will have an enormous impact on your performance of the straightway. you have to think 2 cars ahead and not what the guy in front of you is doing. And you cant do that unless your mind is not together and cool"
Another analogy is to operate like the Cheetah
@Dr Julie Gurner Twitter

you can be forceful ; brash; full of ego; but best way to operate is like Cheetah : quiet but absolute killer

-Cheetahs are not big personalities - no bravado - but quiet, unassuming, thoughtful - incredible acumen
-Cheetahs are precise- They don't waste energy - operate at breakneck speed , when target in sight-but behind the scenes
-Cheetahs are quiet and solitary - but are the fastest land animal on earth- don't operate according to common assumptions

Be a Cheetah!
 

Write!

 

Write! thats the only way you can reveal your Self to yourself!

Seneca pg.57 Letters from a Stoic

Write more than you Speak!
For writing reveals
real traces, real evidences
of an absent friend
that is yourself!

Write!
thats the only way
you can reveal your Self
to yourself!

Authors

Seneca

regulate your character every day

 

Seneca : Letters from a Stoic : pg.54

Regulate your character such that
Spirit within feels neither loss nor gain
remains same, no matter how things fall out
A spirit like that , if heaped with worldly goods
rises supreme to it
A spirit like that, if chance has stripped them of wealth
is not impaired

Seneca

"renew thyself eachday" An engraving found in bathtub of King Thich NhatThang

The above verses of Seneca are maybe for an expert Yogi - but i can attempt it as a practitioner-
As Ward Farnsworth asks in the book, The Practicing Stoic - "Are you an expert? " No i am a practitioner;

I can be a practitioner in -regulating my character , spirit every day using the PIES model

Physical - Walking
Intellectual - Learning
Emotional - Caring
Spiritual - Sharing
I need to have a system of habits that helps me accomplish above
Regulate my character everyday! day after day!