Till recently : I have not sought out for gurus or mentors in my life; rather I was preparing myself for the guru to arrive
But now, I can proudly say that found I one in : Henry David Thoreau ;
Thoreau holds a master black belt in simplicity: reducing life to its essentials;
I have read his book Walden for over 5 times now; full readings ;
now I need to read it more in chapters and chew it and chew it and chew it and digest it
like the Drum-stick stub dipped in the sambar (Indian Curry);😋😋😋
Oh man! : Thoreau : you are a master of philosophies of Eastern, Chinese ,Greek and Roman;
who learnt the classic literatures in their own original language rather than in translations;
and all this hailing from the land of the consumerism : USA:
Thoreau's lessons are a whiff of fresh air !!!
this man makes a mockery of the modern day living : railroad etc., not to denigrate them :
but to emphasize the fact that just because you can commute faster from point A to Point B
does not mean that your civilization has grown!
another point he makes is : just because you dress like a king
you don’t become gentlemanly!
Thoreau!
Thoreau! Thoreau!
He talks about the Philosophy itself : Philosophy is not preaching from the pulpit ;
but Philosophy is the way you live : an Operating System ; Principles ;
Codes
on which you live and adhere to 100% of time; no deviation whatsoever; or just
this time alone;
Clayton Christensen concurs that in his article : "How will you measure your life?"
for each one its different! You got to find that! Nobody can tell you that! You got to find that!
Sorry! That should be the main motivation of your life! And what I am realizing is that : how do you measure your life ?
It Is not going to be one of these :
Money! Power! Fame ! Position! Houses you own! Where you live!
Cars you own! Because they can come and go! They can be take away! Yes they can
be taken away!
You
got to be measured by something else : Trust, Confidence, Enjoyment, Integrity
, Intention
Stuff of permanence even if intangible!
·
Trust : Do people trust in you? Are you building
it? Working with Candor and Honesty
·
Confidence : Are you confident about what you
do?...Zinsser…
·
Enjoyment : Are you enjoying what you do? If not what's the purpose! …
·
Integrity : Do you know the values and live by
those? …
·
Intent : Why are you doing what you are doing ?
..Simon Sinek
·
Simplicity : Are you leading a simple life? -
Thoreau