Health is the optimum life force

 

Once Mullah Naseeruddin met with an accident and was in a hospital with bandages all over him. One of his friends came to visit and asked, “Mullah, how are you?” He said,” I am fine. It only hurts when I laugh.” The friend said, “How can you laugh in this condition?” Mullah replied, “If I don’t laugh now, I have never laughed in my life.”

This undying enthusiasm is an aspect of being in perfect health. The word health in Sanskrit is ‘swasth’ which means an enlightened being, one who is established in the self. The first sign of being in the self is enthusiasm — one who can laugh and say, “today nothing worked.” To be able to say this you need a state of mind that is stress-free and tension proof. 

Health is the optimum life force. It is when your consciousness is alert, intellect is sharp, energy high and there is a willingness to learn more and more. If you are physically fit and mentally lethargic and depressed, then that is not health. We need to recognise this aspect of ourselves. 

Half of our health we spend in gaining wealth and then we spend that wealth to gain back our health. This is not economical. When animals get wet or play in the dust, they shake their full body and get everything out of them. But we human beings hold onto everything. When you come to office, shake the home-related matters off your mind. When you go back home, shake the office off your back.

For tackling stress, there are techniques of pranayama and meditation which also strengthen your nervous system and mind, release toxins from the body and enhance your performance and overall quality of life. Never mind if some failure happens here and there; so, what? Every failure is a big step for success. Increase your enthusiasm and avoid getting stressed.

Nourishing your emotions through seva

 

A person without emotions is like wood without any juice. You need to make yourself interesting to inspire people to be with you. This will happen when you nurture yourself with music, prayer and service. The way to expand from individual to universal consciousness is to share others’ sorrow and joy. As you grow, your consciousness should also grow.

When you expand in knowledge with time, then depression is not possible. The way to overcome personal misery is to share universal misery. The way to expand personal joy is to share universal joy. Instead of thinking, “what about me?” and “what can I gain from this world?” think, “what can I do for the world?” Service leads to the dynamic experience of heart. It creates a sense of belongingness.

Not being of service (seva) to others, can lead a person to depression. Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Pain is physical. Suffering is mental. If you are not sensitive to others’ pain, then you are not a human being. That is why you need to serve. Service alone can bring contentment in life, but service without silence will tire you.

Service without spirituality will be shallow and cannot be sustained for a long period. The deeper the silence, the more dynamic will be the outer activity. Both are essential in life. When you bring some relief or freedom to someone through seva, good vibrations and blessings come to you.

Seva brings merit; merit allows you to go deep in meditation; meditation brings back your smile. When you sing and pray from your heart, your emotions are nourished and you become lively.

Creating a happy world through peace

 

In a world marked by conflicts and a ballooning mental health crisis, one pressing question beckons: Is there a way out of this?

The post-pandemic world continues to fluctuate between extremes of aggression and societal violence on one end and depression and suicidal tendencies on the other. Mental health and loneliness have become silent epidemics with estimated one in every three individuals in the world suffering from anxiety or depression.

With nearly two mass shootings per day and classroom violence becoming commonplace in the U.S., it makes one wonder if we are regressing to a barbaric age. In today’s virtual world where more and more people seem to be operating in silos, there is an increasing feeling of mistrust and isolation.

How did we even get here? Let’s look at life through the lens of these three fundamental aspects: passion, dispassion and compassion.

Passion is essential to achieve anything worthwhile. Without it, one could feel lost, unenthusiastic or even depressed. On the other hand, unbridled passion can lead to anxiety, fear of uncertainty and even insomnia.

While passion propels one into action, dispassion allows one to relax. Certain amount of dispassion is essential in order to feel sane, safe and to have a sound sleep. It broadens one’s vision and allows one to look at life from a bigger context, acknowledging the fact that people and situations are constantly changing. When one embraces this sense of impermanence, the world appears like a transit lounge. Both, modern scientists and ancient sages concur that the world is illusory in nature. This awareness makes individuals pause and reconsider the priorities of their life.

The third aspect is compassion which defines humanness. In absence of which, life appears dry and meaningless. While compassion towards others is essential, compassion towards one’s own self is equally important. It also creates an environment where people feel heard and included thus mitigating the adverse impact of loneliness.

When these aspects go out of balance, it induces stress and societal discord. This is the primary cause of today’s mental health crisis. Unfortunately, neither at home nor in school have we ever learned how to manage stress and emotions. Popular interventions such as therapy and medication are cosmetic at best as they don’t seem to offer a long-lasting solution. This calls for a fundamental rethink.

Breathwork and meditation hold the key to eliminating stress and restoring balance in all aspects of life. 42 years ago, when I first started to travel across various countries, yoga and meditation were colored with prejudice. While the stigma around these practices is waning, there is still a long way to go.

Our breath has many secrets that have not been explored fully. Each emotion corresponds to a distinct breathing pattern. If emotions can impact how we breathe, the reverse is also true. From ancient times, people have been using breath as a way to relax and strengthen their minds. A strong mind can carry a weak body. However, a weak mind cannot even support a strong body.

Meditation helps individuals experience a rare state of outer dynamism and inner calm. It is no longer a luxury, but a modern-day necessity. Meditation and breathwork are not just cures but also preventive measures for maintaining mental and emotional well-being. Even if one person in a family is disturbed, it affects the entire family. Inner peace is key to the peace in family, society and eventually in the entire nation.

Wars originate as a conflict in the mind of an individual. Perceived threat from others, breakdown of communication and lack of trust fuel discord, resulting in loss of sensitivity and sensibility. Thus, it is all the more necessary for people in positions of power to have inner calm and peace. This enables them to think better and act more effectively for the greater good of our planet.

In global discussions, peace and security are always mentioned in the same breath. However very little attention is given to peace education. It will serve the planet in the long run if governments could spend a fraction of their security budget on peace education and mental health towards creating a happy world.

A violence-free society, quiver-free breath, stress-free mind, inhibition-free intellect, trauma-free memory, and a sorrow-free soul is the birthright of every individual. My vision is to see a happier society. Some may say it’s utopia but I’m confident that together we can make it a reality.

The true essence of sports

 

Should we take sports seriously or lightly? The answer is both. 

It loses its charm and lightness if you take sports too seriously. It turns into a battle or business and that’s where all the unethical practices can stem from.

When we do not take sports in a lighter spirit and treat them as larger-than-life, we get depressed and anxious about failing. For many sportspersons, this becomes a trigger for a host of mental illnesses. A game is a game because it is foolish. If you find meaning, it is not a game. A fool does something unique, yet meaningless. All entertainment, including games, are an act of foolishness in some way.

Just imagine if somebody from another planet lands here and sees a huge crowd watching a game – one ball in the middle, a player trying to hit it all over, another trying to catch it and bring it back to the centre, only to throw it away again. Why go through all this trouble, the alien might wonder. It would appear absolutely funny and pointless. For hours together other people sit there, howling, yelling and clapping. You can watch the whole drama, with awareness. There is really nothing in it. George Bernard Shaw said somewhere, “Cricket is a game where 11 fools play and 11 thousand watch.”

Not just cricket, make your whole life a game. Take it lightly and easily. Play the game. That is worship. Have you ever seen kittens, or even small monkeys, when their stomachs are full? They don’t just sit around. They play. They are not really fighting with each other but they run, punch, scratch, and do somersaults. Sports is a natural phenomenon where we laugh and cry together. A sport or a game is the first expression of life. A baby, even before it starts recognising faces and speaking, starts playing.

I would say sports is the purest expression of life, and so honouring it is honouring our own life force. Whether it is politics, economics, music, art, religion or sports, there is only one aim of all these avenues – to bring happiness. And sport is one of the most important tools to create happiness, harmony and well-being. But we need to look at sports and sportsmanship from a broader dimension, to keep the violence, aggression and short-sightedness out of it.

We need to learn the art of equanimity. Letting a win go to our head can lead to arrogance and allowing the loss to get to our hearts can lead to depression and anxiety. Somehow, the feverishness of winning has gripped the arena of sports. Even between countries, when one country wins, the people from other countries get so upset, and in some cases, there is violence. This can be avoided if the true essence of sports is brought to light – to uplift the spirit and unite people and have happier societies.

In a game, somebody is going to win, but that somebody’s win should be eventually a celebration for everybody, a celebration of talent. I tell sportspersons, there are only two scenarios — either you win or you make others win. That puts their minds at ease. If that is not the spirit, then it is not a game, it is a war or business. Infusing this spirit in sports is important to uplift human consciousness. If this is not there, then we are missing something that is basic to sports.

Sports have this special dimension: You can be happy just by playing, keeping aside the results. Their result is not as important as the process or the joy of being involved in the act of playing, and how well you have played your role.

It is important to make sure mental health of sportspersons is looked after. They should be beaming with real happiness when they are playing. While the physical side of training for players has advanced significantly, they should also explore their inner dimension. A strong mind can carry a weak body, but a weak mind cannot carry even a strong body. To be able to handle the demands of modern competitive sports, a calm and balanced mind is indispensable. That can come from practices that increase their focus and sense of relaxation simultaneously, like yoga, some breathing and a few minutes of meditation.