In the morning

 IN THE morning when you rise unwillingly, let this thought be present-

I am rising to the work of a human being. Why then am I dissatisfied

if I am going to do the things for which I exist and for which I was brought into the world?

Or have I been made for this, to lie in the bed-clothes and keep myself warm?-

But this is more pleasant.!!!

- Do you exist then to take thy pleasure, and not at all for action or exertion?

Do you not see the little plants, the little birds, the ants, the spiders, the bees working together

to put in order their several parts of the universe?

Stoic 6 pack

16 Life lessons by Maria Popova

 Maria Popova. One of the finest bloggers that you would find in the contemporary world. 

Maria in her weekly newsletter,the marginalian, offers  : the week's most mind-broadening and heart-lifting reflections spanning art, science, poetry, philosophy, and other tendrils of our search for truth, beauty, meaning, and creative vitality.  Maria writes about the interaction of both Art and Science, quoting vividly as much from Leo Tolstoy as much as from Richard Feynman- and in the process tries to uncover the underlying Truth that defines both ends of the Spectrum. 

Recently Maria completed 16 years of her blogging : look here :  16 Life lessons.

Here is my one-line summary of each year:

1. Its infinitely more rewarding to understand than to be right

2. Do nothing for prestige or status or money or approval alone- extrinsic motivators dont  make it thrilling to get up in the morning and gratifying to go to sleep in the night 

3. Be generous - with your time and resources and giving credit, especially with your words.

4. Build pockets of stillness into your life.Meditate . Go for long walks. Sleep well.

5. When people tell you who they are...believe them. when people try to tell you who you are, don't believe them.

6. Presence is far more intricate and rewarding art than productivity 

7. Expect anything worthwhile to take a long time

8. Seek out what magnifies your spirit - people, ideas and books that magnify your spirit.

9. Don't be afraid to be an idealist

10. Don't just resist cynicism- fight it actively

11. Map is not the territory.  Question your models by testing against reality 

12. There are infinitely many kinds of beautiful lives.

13. In any bond, forgive, forgive, forgive

14. Choose Joy

15. Outgrow yourself 

16. Unself!

Write!

To think well - means to sit and write down your thoughts!

To speak well - means to speak what you have written it down before

To read well means- to jot down on paper  the sparks of wisdom that  arise as you read!

Think, Speaking and Reading comes down to one thing - Writing!!!

Make that your prime Job!

Mukund

Prudential Algebra

Understanding

 Stranger- one who does not understand the Universe

Runaway  - one who flies from social reform

Blind - onw who shuts the eyes of understanding

Poor - one who has need of another

Abcess - one who withdraws and separates from reason

Marcus Aurelius 

Meditations 

Hindrance

 Sickness is hindrance to body

But not to the will

Lameness is hindrance to the leg

But not to the will

Say this to yourself then-

Hindrance is towards something else

Not towards you!!!

The Enchiridion

Epictetus 

The Essence

When all the desires that surge in the Heart

are renounced, the mortal becomes immortal

When all the knots, that surge in the heart

are loosened, the mortal becomes immortal

this sums up the teaching of the Scriptures!

Katha Upanishad

Eknath Eswaran

Meditation

 Meditation enables them to go

deeper and deeper into consciousness

from the world of words into the world of thoughts

then beyond the thoughts to wisdom in the Self

Arise! Awake! See the guidance of an

illumined teacher and realize the Self!

The Upanishad

Eknath Eswaran

Discovery from the Upanishad

 the most significant discovery of the Upanishads - the Self

which is identical in all of us

Whenever we love, we are really responding to

the Self within that person

The two words from the Upanishads that give us the essence of all their teachings

"Meditate on the Self"

ie., become one with - realize- this underlying reality

Eknath Eswaran

The Upanishads

Desire

"You are what your deep driving desire is 

As your desire is, so is your will

As your will is , so is your deed

As your deed is , so is your destiny!

We live in accordance with deep,driving desire

It is this desire at the time of death,

that determines what our next life will be-

we will come back to work out the satisfaction of the desire"

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

the Upanishads 

Eknath Eswaran

How to write well?

 How to write well - by Warren Buffet

"Write with a specific person in mind. when writing Berkshire Hathaway's annual report, I pretend that I am talking to my sisters!

I have no trouble picturing them. Though highly intelligent, they are not experts in accounting or finance. they understand plain English, but jargon may puzzle them.

My goal is to give them the information, that I would wish them to supply me if our positions were reversed. 

To succeed, I don't need to be Shakespeare.

I must, though have a sincere desire to Inform.

No sibling to write to? Borrow mine: Just begin with "Dear Doris and Bertie"

Stroytelling!

Storytelling is a superpower!

But most people do it wrong - They lack structure

Follow this format:

1. Desire

2. Problem

3. Solution

4. Transformation

And I guarantee your audience will give you their attention till the end!

This post is an example!

(by @ItskierAndrew)

3 things

 3 things

Some things are good

Some are bad

Some indifferent 

Goods then are virtues

Bad then are Vices

Indifferent then are- Health, wealth and Reputation 

Marcus Aurelius 

Meditations 

Purpose

 Define the purpose as North Star

Align the principles as Guide rails

Practice the Habits daily

Become the person you are!

The projection

 Sense object project to the senses

Senses project on to Mind

Mind projects on to the Intellect

Intellect upon the Ego

Ego projects upon the undifferentiated consciousness (Chitta)

Undifferentiated consciousness upon Self

True Self then becomes the first cause and the last refuge!

(My interpretation:Who am I? : I am neither the body or mind  or intellect or ego or Chitta: I am the Soul/ Spirit)

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 

Eknath Eswaran 

The journey

 

When a person lacks discrimination 

the mind is indisciplined

And the senses run hither and thither

They reach not the journey's end

Wandering from one life to the next

When a person has discrimination 

The mind is one- pointed

Senses obey like trained horses

And reach the journey's end-

The pure state of immortality 

Katha Upanishad

Eknath Eswaran

The Self

 "There are two Selves

The seperate Ego

And the indivisible Atman

When one rises above-

"I and me and mine"

The Atman is revealed as one's real Self;"

The Upanishads - Katha Upanishad 

Eknath Eswaran

Breath of the Supreme

 Today's wisdom of the day is from the Upanishads 

Specifically Brihadaranyaka upanishad:

Brihad means grand,Aranyaka is forest

Brihadaranyaka provides a slide view of what the Supreme is :

Here below is the translation by the one and only Eknath eswaran: pg.100, the Upanishads 

Sounds of drum

Requires the drum and drummer 

Sound of conch

Requires conch and the blower

Sounds of Vina

Require vina and the musician 

Clouds of smoke

Requires fire and fuel

Ever so from the supreme ,have issued forth

All the vedas, history,arts and Science, 

Poetry, aphorisms and commentaries-

All these are the breath of the Supreme

(We are the Instrument,  Supreme is the musician)